Daily Meditation - Monday 9June 2008 - THE ETERNAL NOW OF JESUS & SCRIPTURE

[BarbaraTherese]

Optional Memorial
St. Ephrem - Deacon & Doctor

Mass Readings and Meditation

Reading

Meditation

Monday, June 09, 2008

Meditation

Matthew 5:1-12

For years, scholars and theologians have debated the structure and meaning of the Sermon on the Mount. Did Jesus really give this “sermon” in one sitting as Matthew presents it here? Many experts are not sure. Some point to the similarities with—and differences from—Luke’s “sermon on the plain” (Luke 6:17-49) to show how flexible these sayings are.

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• Perhaps this sermon really is Matthew’s own compilation of a number of teachings that Jesus gave over the course of his ministry.

Weaving them together as one long sermon that Jesus gives on a hillside,
Matthew reminds the readers of Moses,
who brought God’s law to the people on a mountainside as well.

In other words, Jesus’ teaching is a new law, just as Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses, the original lawgiver.

• Looking at these issues, as well as similar issues raised by other gospel passages, several things become evident.

For one, it seems that the four men who wrote the gospels were not interested simply in recording history.
They weren’t newspaper reporters but prophetic theologians,
commissioned by God to paint portraits of Jesus that were meant to endure until the end of time.

The Spirit was working through these four men, empowering them to give a legacy to the church that a simple biography never could do.

• Who is Jesus for you?

Is he more than a historical figure limited to a certain time and place?
Can you come to know him intimately through the Scriptures?

Can you dare to think that he might speak to you here and now with all the tenderness and conviction that he had when he spoke to the first disciples?

• The answer to all these questions is an unqualified yes!

Jesus loves each of us too much to remain locked in the past.
He wants to speak to us the same words he told Peter, Mary, and John
—so that we can become saints in our day and age!
So when you come to him in prayer today or when you read his word today,
ask Jesus to come sit with you and teach you.
Quiet your heart, and watch to see how he will reveal himself to you.

“Jesus, I want to know you more and more. Open the eyes of my heart so that I can love you more each day. You are glorious above everything else.”

 

[bwhite06517]

WOW - I wish I could pray like this:

Our first reading today is from I Kings 17:1-6. We have:

Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab:“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.” The LORD then said to Elijah: “Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. You shall drink of the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.” So he left and did as the LORD had commanded. He went and remained by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the stream.

This is cited again in James chapter 5:17-18

Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Just before that in James 5:16b we have:

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

And Jesus in Matthew 21:22 says:

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

So … Elijah prayed for NO rain, and it didn’t rain - and he was fed by ravens and has water from a stream. Then he prayed again and it did rain!!!

In the James 5:16b verse, the PROMISE is that the prayers of righteous people are POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE!!!

Do we pray enough? When we pray are we believing that God hears us and will answer us? Are we trying to be righteous so that our prayers are heard?

We are the children of the King!!! God bought us with the precious blood of Jesus. We are adopted into his Kingdom. He loves us and wants us to come to Him in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we want to grow closer to you through prayer. Open our hearts so that we can communicate better with you. Show us how to pray!!! Amen