D
distracted
Guest
Monday (3-30)
**
Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62**:
In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim, who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna; her pious parents had trained their daughter according to the law of Moses. Joakim… had a garden… That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon: from the elders who were to govern the people as judges.” … When the people left… Susanna used to enter her husband’s garden for a walk. When the old men saw her… they began to lust for her. They suppressed their consciences… and did not keep in mind just judgments. One day, while they were waiting for the right moment, she entered the garden… with two maids. She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm. Nobody else was there except the two elders, who had hidden themselves… As soon as the maids had left the garden, the two old men got up and hurried to her. “Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us; give in to our desire, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.” - “I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned. “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power. ***Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” ***Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her, as one of them ran to open the garden doors. When the people in the house heard the cries… they rushed in to see what had happened to her… When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day, the two wicked elders also came, fully determined to put Susanna to death… When [Susanna] was sent for, she came with her parents, children and all her relatives… In the midst of the people the two elders rose up and laid their hands on her head. Through tears she looked up to Heaven, for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly. The elders [said]… “As we were walking in the garden alone, this woman entered with two girls and shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls. A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her. When we, in a corner of the garden saw this crime, we ran toward them. We saw them lying together, but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we… Then we seized her and asked who the young man was, but she refused to tell us…” The assembly believed them, since they were elders and judges… and they condemned her to death. But Susanna cried aloud: ***“O eternal God, you know what is hidden… *** you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die, though I have done none of the things with which these wicked men have charged me.” The Lord heard her prayer. As she was being led to execution, God stirred up the Holy Spirit of a young boy named Daniel, and he cried aloud: “I will have no part in the death of this woman… Are you such fools, O children of Israel! To condemn a woman of Israel without examination and without clear evidence? Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.” Then all the people returned in haste. To Daniel the elder said, “come, sit with us and inform us, since God has given you the prestige of old age.” … [Daniel] replied, “Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.” After they were separated… he called one of them and said: “How you have grown evil with age! ***Now have your past sins come to term: passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent… ***Now, then, if you were a witness, tell me under what tree you saw them together.” - “Under a mastic tree,” he answered. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head, for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him and split you in two.” Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought. Daniel said to [the other one], “Offspring of Canaan… beauty has seduced you, lust has subverted your conscience. This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel, and in their fear they yielded to you; but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness. Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.” - “Under an oak,” he said. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head, for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two so as to make an end of you both.” The whole assembly cried aloud, blessing God who saves those who hope in him. They rose up against the two elders, for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury. According to the law of Moses, they inflicted on them the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor: they put them to death. Thus was innocent blood spared that day.
Ps 23:
Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side…
St… Jn 8:1-11:
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been ***caught in adultery ***and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on he ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and [Jesus] said to them, ***“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ***Again he bent down and wrote in on the ground, and in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, Sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. ***Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” ***
*In the first passage… it is interesting to note how lust subverts the conscience… I think a lot of people nowadays have this problem because all one sees on TV is perverted sex…
and as the saints tell us, more people end up in Hell over sexual sin than any other…
(second to that is lack of charity…)
The 2nd passage is one of the many that refutes the idea of “once-saved-always-saved”, the notion that once a person is forgiven by Christ, it doesn’t matter if he sins or not, he will still go directly to Heaven… True, He doesn’t tell her anything about her eternal destiny one way or the other but Why would he tell her not to sin if it made no difference? *
**
Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62**:
In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim, who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna; her pious parents had trained their daughter according to the law of Moses. Joakim… had a garden… That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon: from the elders who were to govern the people as judges.” … When the people left… Susanna used to enter her husband’s garden for a walk. When the old men saw her… they began to lust for her. They suppressed their consciences… and did not keep in mind just judgments. One day, while they were waiting for the right moment, she entered the garden… with two maids. She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm. Nobody else was there except the two elders, who had hidden themselves… As soon as the maids had left the garden, the two old men got up and hurried to her. “Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us; give in to our desire, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.” - “I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned. “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power. ***Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” ***Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her, as one of them ran to open the garden doors. When the people in the house heard the cries… they rushed in to see what had happened to her… When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day, the two wicked elders also came, fully determined to put Susanna to death… When [Susanna] was sent for, she came with her parents, children and all her relatives… In the midst of the people the two elders rose up and laid their hands on her head. Through tears she looked up to Heaven, for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly. The elders [said]… “As we were walking in the garden alone, this woman entered with two girls and shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls. A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her. When we, in a corner of the garden saw this crime, we ran toward them. We saw them lying together, but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we… Then we seized her and asked who the young man was, but she refused to tell us…” The assembly believed them, since they were elders and judges… and they condemned her to death. But Susanna cried aloud: ***“O eternal God, you know what is hidden… *** you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die, though I have done none of the things with which these wicked men have charged me.” The Lord heard her prayer. As she was being led to execution, God stirred up the Holy Spirit of a young boy named Daniel, and he cried aloud: “I will have no part in the death of this woman… Are you such fools, O children of Israel! To condemn a woman of Israel without examination and without clear evidence? Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.” Then all the people returned in haste. To Daniel the elder said, “come, sit with us and inform us, since God has given you the prestige of old age.” … [Daniel] replied, “Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.” After they were separated… he called one of them and said: “How you have grown evil with age! ***Now have your past sins come to term: passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent… ***Now, then, if you were a witness, tell me under what tree you saw them together.” - “Under a mastic tree,” he answered. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head, for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him and split you in two.” Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought. Daniel said to [the other one], “Offspring of Canaan… beauty has seduced you, lust has subverted your conscience. This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel, and in their fear they yielded to you; but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness. Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.” - “Under an oak,” he said. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head, for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two so as to make an end of you both.” The whole assembly cried aloud, blessing God who saves those who hope in him. They rose up against the two elders, for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury. According to the law of Moses, they inflicted on them the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor: they put them to death. Thus was innocent blood spared that day.
Ps 23:
Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side…
St… Jn 8:1-11:
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been ***caught in adultery ***and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on he ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and [Jesus] said to them, ***“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ***Again he bent down and wrote in on the ground, and in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, Sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. ***Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” ***
*In the first passage… it is interesting to note how lust subverts the conscience… I think a lot of people nowadays have this problem because all one sees on TV is perverted sex…
and as the saints tell us, more people end up in Hell over sexual sin than any other…(second to that is lack of charity…)
The 2nd passage is one of the many that refutes the idea of “once-saved-always-saved”, the notion that once a person is forgiven by Christ, it doesn’t matter if he sins or not, he will still go directly to Heaven… True, He doesn’t tell her anything about her eternal destiny one way or the other but Why would he tell her not to sin if it made no difference? *