If Friday was the wrong day, then I would not have a problem with it being changed, but it is not the wrong day, so I feel it should remain.
The first part of your last statement is all I would ever want anyone to say, because it means you yield to Christ; your faith is not in a system (per se), it is in the Son of God. But most people can’t even say this, because their faith is tied to the system they follow instead of to the Person they’re supposed to follow.
I am one who is willing to trust the Church and its leader on Earth, the Pope, on their interpretation of the Bible, since they are no doubt better than I, or any other person, at it.
[This is what’s been bugging me, Frindro]
Why are they better than you at it? If we read all four gospels from start to finish, we find example after example of the Son of God getting in the face of those who
thought they were better than everyone else in matters of faith; those who thought they were authority.
Matthew 16:6 & Mark 8:15 - “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” What was possibly wrong with them if they were the top brass of the prevailing religion? If they were better at it than everyone else?
Mark 10:35 - *Then
James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
36) “What is your request?” he asked.
37) They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne,
we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one
on your right and the other
on your left.”
40) [But]
I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. Those positions have already been prepared for certain people."
41) And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.*
…The Son of God has all authority on heaven & earth, but why didn’t he have the authority to grant his “right” and “left” to James and John? Why are we told that the remaining ten became almost jealous when they heard the conversation? Wouldn’t you feel a little slighted if you knew others were trying to get a closer position to Christ over you?
Question: What are the only two spaces available near Christ when his right and left are filled?
**Answer: **James’ and John’s right and/or left, as they would be able to say, “Only
I sit at the right (or left) hand of Christ!”
…Then once those spaces are filled, the only remaining positions available are at the sides of those two disciples…and so on and so forth until a familiar structure is formed where those at the bottom are too far from Christ they must trust those “closer” to Him to learn any truth about him. In order to hear Christ’s words, one must go to the next in line; in position; in authority.
John 13:8 - *“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
13) You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am.
14) So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you must also wash one another’s feet.*
…Peter did not want Christ to wash his feet, as Christ is his Master. But the Master washed his servants’ feet, telling Peter he will have no part in the Kingdom if Christ doesn’t wash his too.
Traditionally, a servant washes a master’s feet “Top-Down” Hierarchy of Authority], but again the Son of God brakes with this tradition.
Matthew 19:30 - *But many who are
first will be last, and the last first.
Matthew 20:1) For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out
early one morning
to hire workers for his vineyard.
2) And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
5) So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.*
[verses 6 & 7, the land owner did likewise as verse 5…]
8) *"That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them,
beginning with the last workers first.
9) And when they came that were hired about the
eleventh hour,
they received every man a penny.
10)
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they
likewise received every man a penny.
11) When they [the first] received their pay, they protested to the owner,
12) These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13) But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?*
Those “first” thought they possessed better
position over those who were “last”…but all were counted equally.
Then Paul talks about how all are equal in the body of Christ…
1 Corinthians 12:3 - “…and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”
…which means us - all of us - who make this statement possess Holy Spirit. It’s not just relegated to the Apostles, from them to the Church Fathers, and then to Church Authority. All possess Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:5) *and there are differences in administration, but the same Lord
6) and there are diversities in operations, but it’s the same God…
7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal*.
There is no such thing as “better than…” There is no Authority, save One. Any who’d assume authority is suspect.
As the Bible says: every kingdom, city, or house divided against itself cannot stand. I think the same holds true for people.
