The Hard Sayings of Jesus
We would like to fit God into our neat little acceptable boxes, but that never works! Jesus challenges us to a deeper love which means we have to take on board His more challenging statements.
‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so’ - a well known childrens rhyme and oft repeated in various forms. It is a common refrain that for many in our country today has lost its significance and power. However it is true to say most people, whether they are Christians or not, like Jesus, creating their own version of Him depending on who and where they are. The meek and mild Jesus that never challenges anyone and accepts all. But they are a little less disposed when we begin talking about God; for the image that word conjures up (in the Christian sense) is the Lord of the Old Testament – a God whom is taken to be very different from the Jesus of the gospels - less loving, Judgemental and full of wrath. But this is completely incorrect and belies the truth of God throughout the whole of Salvation history and is in fact a heresy named after its originator - Marcion. However, as Jesus said to St Phillip – ‘If you have seen me, you have seen the Father’. (John 14:9)
The truth is Jesus made some pretty terrifying and sobering statements. He said them to his disciples; the crowds that followed Him, the Religious authorities and to us. If we are to truly follow Christ, we must follow Him wherever He goes and not shy away from Him when He makes statements that we don’t like or do not wish to countenance. If we are ever to go ever deeper into the love of God we have to face up to His challenges.
In Luke 13 we come across what appears on first reading as a callous and, would probably now be deemed, a tone-deaf comment on tragedy and evil:
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’
Repent or perish! Jesus didn’t offer to pray for the victims or their families, he didn’t denounce Pilate as I am sure some of His followers would have liked Him to. He didn’t seek justice against the builders of the tower of Siloam, as many are against the people involved with the Grenfell Tower disaster. He used it as a picture of what happens if we do not repent and follow Christ. This is his central message and He began his ministry with the phrase – the kingdom of God is at hand, believe in the gospel of God and repent. It is a call to conversion and a warning about ignoring it. He then softens it slightly with the parable of the fig tree in which the fig tree nearly gets chopped down for lack of fruit but judgement is stayed for a time. This is the justice and mercy of God and should be a wakeup call for us who believe to ‘work on our salvation’ as St Paul said and a call to share the gospel with those who do not believe.
But what does Jesus mean when He says, repent or perish? Reading it in Mathew 25:31 – 46 we catch a glimpse of what it means in the last judgement:
31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37 Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40 And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,[a] you did it to me.” 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44 Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45 Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
When Jesus is talking about nations, we should note he does not mean it in how we understand the term nation (the nation state is a relatively new concept) but in terms of peoples. We see a Jesus in His glory, with the angels around Him beginning the last judgement of all peoples, separating out those who will go to be with God in heaven and those who will go to hell and join the Devil and his angels. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love Him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against Him, against our neighbour or against ourselves… To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from Him forever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from the communion with God and the blessed is called hell. CCC, 1033
Jesus, and the Church thereafter, affirms the existence of hell and that we are all in danger of being cast into it. Notice, in the passage above it was our works of mercy toward the poor that acted as a condition – this does not negate the fact we must also believe that Jesus is God and that He died for us, but it shows that this is the test at the end of time and we will all face it. But we should also draw comfort because God wants no one to go to hell and is awaiting until the ‘acceptable time’ to enact this judgement.
However, you may feel that you do the works of mercy God requires, you do believe in Jesus and you follow the Church and her precepts. Chapter 7 of St Mathews Gospel should act as a personal challenge on this score.
In Mathew 7:21 – 22 Jesus states:
‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” 23 Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”
This verse is immediately preceded by a warning on false prophets and I think we should take this passage above to be related to that. Here Jesus is listing elements of a ministry that are more supernatural in nature, but nonetheless, even if you do not cast demons out regularly, it is speaking to all of us. This echoes similar passages in the Old Testament when God was warning people about false prophets having visons and dreams attributing them to God when they were anything but. How does one go about working in the ministry God puts us in, acting in His name, to the point where demons must give way and yet be thrown into hell with them? He is talking about self-deception, an error we all fall into. We can convince ourselves and others of our holiness and piety – yet Jesus knows our hearts and can see right through us. He calls us all to genuine sustained conversion of hearts, being open to hearing Him and repenting of our sins. A famous survivor of Auschwitz once said that your heart is like your hand – if you ball it up into a fist, it will be much more painful for you as God pulls it open.
There are many more verses like this in the NT, hell was made very real by Jesus and yet what is just as real, and underpins all things is the love of God and His mercy. He may convict us of sin but He never leaves us like flotsam and jetsam on the Sea – just like when St Peter was drowning, Jesus walked over and picked him up. Through the Church and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God has given us pathways in which we can return to Him and sit with Him in adoration, worship and repentance. You may be afraid to return to God, you might struggle to talk with Him, but He needs no fancy words – just a genuine heart cry to Him and the God of all grace and mercy will pour out his love and forgiveness on you.
To finish I leave you with a few parts of verses on the love God has for us.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son; As the Father loved Me, I love you; Come to me all who are wearied and burdened; Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The Apostolic writers continued: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death; See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are; And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me; We love because he first loved us.
Eric Hanna
To honour St Joseph today watch the short video below from the St Paul Centre with Scott Hahn, interviewing Fr Don Calloway who wrote the popular book: Consecration to St Joseph. The recent visit by Pope Francis to Iraq was momentous for many reasons and a major support to Iraqi Christians. Discussing the implications of the visit, Professor Joshua Ralston of Edinburgh University’s Christian-Muslim department and Omar Mohammad, the blogger behind the Mosul Eye which famously catalogued life under Daesh in that City. Excitingly I am talking to Omar next week about possible contributions, in this newsletter, along the lines of Human Fraternity, persecuted Christianity in Iraq and more.
Also find the link to The Crombie Burn Reader, just incase you didn’t see it - James Bundy has began a new series looking at how Catholicism helped shape modern Britain.
Fr Don Calloway talks with Scott Hahn about St Joseph.
Professor Johua Ralston and Omar Mohammad discuss the implications of Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq.
You would have all recieved Issue 2 of the Crombie Burn Reader. I hope you have been able to read it but if not here is the link again to the beggining of an excellent series by James Bundy on the post-Reformation period in Britain, exploring as to whether anti-Catholicism helped to lay the foundations of the modern British constitution that we enjoy today.
If you have missed any past Coracles you can click here to find them. Most of our past articles are on the roughbounds website as well as talks from Bishop Hugh Gilbert and last years Highland Men’s Conference.
If you tweet find us on @stmoluagscoracle.
We have also started a GoFundMe page that will fund the development of a new Catholic Charity in Scotland - Mary’s Well. We envisage Mary’s Well to have two broad roles; to help people grow in their love of God and His Church, and reconnect people with Scotland’s Catholic past, revealing her Saint’s and veneration of the Blessed Mother. We will use platforms like this, social media and in the future relevant conferences, seminars and retreats to acheive these aims. ***More informaton will follow soon***
God Bless from Eric and Team