2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Another famous passage. Oddly, though this passage is very often taken out of context, the section, vss. 1-10, is actually about confidence in facing death. Paul uses the analogies of a "tent" and a "building" to represent death and resurrection.

Paul is saying, once more, death has no power over us ["... we will not be found naked."]. Not only is there life after death, there is life after life after death. Just as Jesus has a glorious resurrected body, so will we (1 Cor. 15:44-50), and we will be "further clothed."

It isn't what is mortal is bad. God created us in the image of God. It's the mortal body is subject to sickness and death and decay. Our resurrected body won't ["what is mortal will be swallowed up in life"]. We have God's Spirit as the guarantee. We have confidence.

The "punch line" to this, for Paul and for us as we walk to Jerusalem, is we aren't to wait passively until we die and are resurrected. "So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please [God]. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ ..."

Romans 8:3-4

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Paul is convinced the meaning of God sending Jesus is the defeat of Sin and Death [we are "set free"]. The Spirit brings life ["... there is no condemnation"]. We belong to a new creation ["Christ has dealt with Sin"], with the Spirit as the presence of God in our midst, in our hearts.

It isn't that the Law is bad; indeed, as Jesus himself said, the goal is to fulfill the law, in us. The problem is, as Sin has power over us, we can't fulfill it without the power of the Spirit.

In the Spirit, we have righteousness, and we're to live according to that Spirit and implement, "on earth as it is in heaven," this righteousness we have been so freely given.

Romans 6.4

Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul's insistence we are saved by Grace through Faith, rather than by Works of the Law, laid him open to the charge he was saying it's OK to sin. Paul says this is nonsense ["By no means!"].

Our Baptism means, by Christ's death and resurrection, Sin and Death have been overcome - the meaning of his statement we are "dead to Sin."

He does not mean we will never, ever sin once baptized - we are human. What he means is Sin and Death no longer have ultimate power over us. We will be united to Christ in a resurrection like his, and this glorious resurrection, which will happen in the future, is partially available to us now - though then we will see face-to-face and now we look into a mirror darkly.

Our job in the meantime is to be "alive to God in Christ Jesus," to "present [ourselves] to God as those who have been brought from death to life," to "present [our] members [all our faculties and functions] as instruments of righteousness," and do our best to work toward the coming Kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven."

Cathedrals and Churches in Ukraine

Blagoveschensky

Pokrovsky Cathedral

Mark 8.24

And [the blind man of Bethsaida] looked up and said, "I can see people, but they look like trees, walking."

It's unknown why it took two tries for Jesus to heal this person. However, the allegorical meaning of Mark's story is plain - it is through the power of Christ we are able to see clearly.

Matthew 14:25, 29

And early in the morning [Jesus] came walking toward [the disciples] on the sea ... [Jesus] said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.

Many "natural" explanations have been given for this incident, and they all miss the point.

This section, which starts in v.22, has many implications for Matthew:

Jesus walk, as should ours as we walk to Jerusalem, starts with prayer.

Matthew places this story right after the feeding of the 5000, so he is teaching about the authority and power of Jesus. This power and authority is here with us now.

Matthew is telling his flock, as Jesus is in charge, they need not be afraid. Neither should we.

Matthew is also demonstrating what we, not just Jesus, can do if only we have faith. This lesson still applies.

Finally, Matthew says to his flock, and to us, Jesus rescues us when our faith is weak and our doubts assail us.

Preparing for Easter - Ukrainian Style

OK, so this picture (the egg is 9 meters long) is actually in a part of Canada where a large number of Ukrainians have made their home. But, this tradition of making these eggs, called Pysanky, as intricate symbols of new life speaks to me of the importance of Easter to these people. Even though the tradition of decorating the eggs stems from pre-Christian times, for centuries now, setting aside the time to prepare the eggs for Easter has been a way that Ukrainians have prepared for the joy of the resurrection. It causes me to pause and think about the place of Easter in our own culture.

This Week's meditation

Romans 8: 8-11

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

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This week allow yourself to become more and more aware of the Spirit of God that dwells within you and within those with whom you share your days.

John 11:54

Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from [Bethany] to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.

This is more of the story of the raising of Lazarus, this Sunday's Gospel. It might seem such an act would produce only awe and wonder, not plans for death. We must, however, not be too hard on the leadership in Jerusalem. They're trying to survive in an occupied land, and they're afraid the Romans will see crowds following Jesus as insurrection, and will destroy the Temple and the Nation. It's in this context Caiaphas suggests it better one person die instead of a Nation. It's no wonder Jesus, on the Cross, said, "Forgive them, Father, for they don't know what they're doing."

The punch line of this story, howevr, is in verses 51-52, [Caiaphas] did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

As we walk to Jerusalem, it may be well to remember three things:

1. God expects us to walk as rightly as we can;
2. Often people, being human, do very bad things for very good reasons; and,
3. God understands, and can take our mistakes and turn them into good.

A Walking Song for the Next Week

I WALK WITH THE KING

“Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” Isaiah 9:6

Words: James Rowe, circa 1913.

Music: Bentley D. Ackley).

In sorrow I wandered, my spirit oppressed,
But now I am happy—securely I rest;
From morning till evening glad carols I sing,
And this is the reason—I walk with the King.

Refrain

I walk with the King, hallelujah!
I walk with the King, praise His Name!
No longer I roam, my soul faces home,
I walk and I talk with the King.

For years in the fetters of sin I was bound,
The world could not help me—no comfort I found;
But now like the birds and the sunbeams of spring,
I’m free and rejoicing—I walk with the King.

Refrain

O soul near despair in the lowlands of strife,
Look up and let Jesus come into your life;
The joy of salvation to you He would bring—
Come into the sunlight and walk with the King.

Refrain