“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And He made man in His own image.
He fell. The image is marred.
Our beginnings are thus already headed toward endings. Some children don’t even make it out of the womb. Others are cut down too soon….
Read MoreAll the stuff we buy ends up eventually discarded. There’s no joy there. Our own bodies return to the dust. The things we think will make us happy are only temporary. But to be joined to the communion of Jesus and His Church – there is life, and light, and joy. Which is why John wants us to join not his church, but Christ’s Church. Being part of that one, holy, catholic and apostolic church is to enter into communion with the One who is Life. That’s our only path to joy. That’s why John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes his Gospel and letters: “And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”
Read MoreIn 1 Jn. 2, keeping (τηρῶμεν) the commandments (v3) is a companion to keeping the Word (v4, λόγον).
What we see in the account of Jesus’ temptation is the One Man who does not succumb to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He is the One Man who does the will of the Father. And He does it under the harshest conditions. Jesus redoes, relives, recapitulates the whole history of Israel, and passes every test they failed.
And this means that He has endured every suffering that you know, and has resisted and overcome every temptation you experience. How does He overcome temptation? By means of the Word. Jesus is confident that the Father will be faithful to Him, that He will not go back on His Word, that He will not break His promise.
Read MoreThe nobleman doesn’t get everything at once. He just gets from Jesus a Word. “Go your way; your son lives.” He has the Word, but does not see it. Though in retrospect he sees that his son was healed at that very hour, still he must begin the long journey back home. He journeys in belief; and yet did he also doubt? And could we blame him, if he wavered, if he worried about his little boy? All he had was the Word to go on. Sometimes it feels like it’s not enough. That’s why this story is recorded – for us, as a reminder that the Word is enough, that we can cling to it with confidence when the way is dark and the road uncertain.
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