In honor of the Presentation of Our Lord and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Candlemas), Deacon Dulas was asked to contribute to Iggy Antiochus' blog All For Hymn. For information on the history of this festival and to see some of the common rites associated with this festival, we encourage you to check out his blog at http://allforhymn.blogspot.com/
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
They Went Out and Preached That People Should Repent: St. Mark 6:1-29
St. Mark 6:1-29: "1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, 'Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?' And they were offended at Him. 4 But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.' 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. 7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts--9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. 10 Also He said to them, 'In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!' 12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. 14 Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, 'John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.' 15 Others said, 'It is Elijah.' And others said, 'It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets.' 16 But when Herod heard, he said, 'This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!' 17 For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her. 18 For John had said to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.' 19 Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21 Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. 22 And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, 'Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.' 23 He also swore to her, 'Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.' 24 So she went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask?' And she said, 'The head of John the Baptist!' 25 Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, 'I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.' 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb."
Our Lord Jesus is not without honor except in His own country, among His own relatives, and in His own house. Therefore, He sends out His disciples to preach in His own country, and among His relatives, and in His own house, that is, the house of Israel. There are three things to point out about this sending. First, that our Lord Jesus gives them authority to cast out demons. They will do this through preaching His Word. Second, they are to take nothing with them, except a staff. They are to rid themselves of the trappings of this world. And they are to carry only a staff, the symbol of a prophet, as we see from Moses the first prophet, who carried the "rod of God." This staff is also a symbol of their role as shepherd to the lost sheep of Israel, just like the staff of Moses, was his rod that he used in his vocation of shepherd. Third, the preaching of the disciples is the same as the preaching of Jesus. We can see this from St. Mark 1:15, where our Lord starts His preaching by saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." This is in fact that same preaching of St. John the Baptist, who is beheaded by Herod in this pericope, or as the ancient Church referred to it, the decollation of St. John the Baptist.
This preaching of the Jesus and the disciples, going out into the entire territory of Herod, causes him to think that St. John the Baptist is not dead. This causes the Evangelist St. Mark to relate to us the events leading up to the decollation of St. John the Baptist. Herodias is none to please with the preaching of St. John the Baptist, she doesn't like having her sin pointed out to her, she refuses to listen to the preaching of the Law. The same can be said about Herod, for he is after all the one who puts St. John the Baptist in prison. However, it is different with Herod, for we are told that he enjoys listening to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, and "heard him gladly." Herodias on the other hand shows no sign of the fear of God, instead we see from her the control and manipulation which she has over Herod, or as we say in the vernacular, "She wears the pants." Herodias plays the role of the devil, who stomps out every seed planted by the preaching of our Lord Jesus, so that it can never grow.
For this reason Herod is a poor character, for we get the sense from the Evangelist St. Mark that Herod if he was allowed to continue to listen to the Word of God would repent. However, Herodias will have none of that, and in the end, through her daughter, she brings St. John the Baptist's earthly life to a close.
One may wonder why the sending of the disciples, and the decollation of St. John the Baptist appear in the same pericope, or for that matter why in the Gospel of St. Mark, they are lumped next to each other? The answer is an easy one, when one remembers the Words of our Lord Jesus at the beginning of this pericope, "'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." The reality of this revealed to us when we consider that our Lord Jesus was crucified for His preaching, and that all but one of the disciples who were sent out as His apostles were killed for their preaching about our Lord Jesus. St. John the Baptist, we are shown, is killed for his preaching of our Lord Jesus, and even the some of the prophets of the Old Testament were killed for their preaching of the Messiah, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are shown here by the Evangelist St. Mark, what happens to the preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The devil, through various means and people, tries to silence their voice. Herod perhaps thought that he would never hear the preaching of St. John the Baptist ever again, but our Lord shows His grace and mercy, by sending replacements for St. John the Baptist, His disciples. They go into the entire territory of Herod, and proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Word reaches back to Herod so that he thinks that St. John the Baptist is raised from the dead, and in a sense, that is, according to his preaching, he has been raised from the dead. New preachers of the Gospel have replaced him. Our Lord continues to send us preachers of the Gospel, so that we might hear what He has done for us. And there are still people who play the part of Herodias, who try to silence these preachers, who are offended at the preaching of repentance, who refuse to repent of their sin. Some of these are even within the Church, which we see when ministers of the Gospel are unjustly removed from their calls.
However, our Lord is abundant in His mercy for He keeps on sending ministers of the Gospel to these hard-hearted people with stopped up ears, so that they might repent. And even if they do to these preachers of the Gospel, what they did to the last one, our Lord Jesus will still send them more. There may be one or two preachers in the mix who will tickle their itching ears, and preach the ways of the world, and not the Word of God, but our Lord will continue to be gracious, and find a way for these individuals to hear the Gospel.
This is why this pericope is such good news for us, for we see the work of our Lord in providing ministers of the Gospel. We even have an example in Herod who even after he is forced to kill the one preacher he was willing to listen to, is given the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached again, through the disciples. We do not know from holy Scriptures, nor from history if Herod ever did repent, and from what we do know it doesn't look promising. But if Herod did continue to refuse to repent, it serves for us as a warning to heed the Words of the ministers of the Gospel who have been sent to preach to us, for they have been sent by our Lord Jesus Himself, to preach to us about Him. And if Herod did repent, then we have a shining example of how efficacious our Lord's Word is, for it has the power to convert even someone as hard-hearted as Herod. May the Lord God continue to send you preachers of the Gospel who will preach the Word of God in its truth and purity and administer the Sacraments of God according to Christ's institution.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
This preaching of the Jesus and the disciples, going out into the entire territory of Herod, causes him to think that St. John the Baptist is not dead. This causes the Evangelist St. Mark to relate to us the events leading up to the decollation of St. John the Baptist. Herodias is none to please with the preaching of St. John the Baptist, she doesn't like having her sin pointed out to her, she refuses to listen to the preaching of the Law. The same can be said about Herod, for he is after all the one who puts St. John the Baptist in prison. However, it is different with Herod, for we are told that he enjoys listening to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, and "heard him gladly." Herodias on the other hand shows no sign of the fear of God, instead we see from her the control and manipulation which she has over Herod, or as we say in the vernacular, "She wears the pants." Herodias plays the role of the devil, who stomps out every seed planted by the preaching of our Lord Jesus, so that it can never grow.
For this reason Herod is a poor character, for we get the sense from the Evangelist St. Mark that Herod if he was allowed to continue to listen to the Word of God would repent. However, Herodias will have none of that, and in the end, through her daughter, she brings St. John the Baptist's earthly life to a close.
One may wonder why the sending of the disciples, and the decollation of St. John the Baptist appear in the same pericope, or for that matter why in the Gospel of St. Mark, they are lumped next to each other? The answer is an easy one, when one remembers the Words of our Lord Jesus at the beginning of this pericope, "'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." The reality of this revealed to us when we consider that our Lord Jesus was crucified for His preaching, and that all but one of the disciples who were sent out as His apostles were killed for their preaching about our Lord Jesus. St. John the Baptist, we are shown, is killed for his preaching of our Lord Jesus, and even the some of the prophets of the Old Testament were killed for their preaching of the Messiah, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are shown here by the Evangelist St. Mark, what happens to the preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The devil, through various means and people, tries to silence their voice. Herod perhaps thought that he would never hear the preaching of St. John the Baptist ever again, but our Lord shows His grace and mercy, by sending replacements for St. John the Baptist, His disciples. They go into the entire territory of Herod, and proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Word reaches back to Herod so that he thinks that St. John the Baptist is raised from the dead, and in a sense, that is, according to his preaching, he has been raised from the dead. New preachers of the Gospel have replaced him. Our Lord continues to send us preachers of the Gospel, so that we might hear what He has done for us. And there are still people who play the part of Herodias, who try to silence these preachers, who are offended at the preaching of repentance, who refuse to repent of their sin. Some of these are even within the Church, which we see when ministers of the Gospel are unjustly removed from their calls.
However, our Lord is abundant in His mercy for He keeps on sending ministers of the Gospel to these hard-hearted people with stopped up ears, so that they might repent. And even if they do to these preachers of the Gospel, what they did to the last one, our Lord Jesus will still send them more. There may be one or two preachers in the mix who will tickle their itching ears, and preach the ways of the world, and not the Word of God, but our Lord will continue to be gracious, and find a way for these individuals to hear the Gospel.
This is why this pericope is such good news for us, for we see the work of our Lord in providing ministers of the Gospel. We even have an example in Herod who even after he is forced to kill the one preacher he was willing to listen to, is given the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached again, through the disciples. We do not know from holy Scriptures, nor from history if Herod ever did repent, and from what we do know it doesn't look promising. But if Herod did continue to refuse to repent, it serves for us as a warning to heed the Words of the ministers of the Gospel who have been sent to preach to us, for they have been sent by our Lord Jesus Himself, to preach to us about Him. And if Herod did repent, then we have a shining example of how efficacious our Lord's Word is, for it has the power to convert even someone as hard-hearted as Herod. May the Lord God continue to send you preachers of the Gospel who will preach the Word of God in its truth and purity and administer the Sacraments of God according to Christ's institution.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
Let Us Go and Sacrifice to Our God: Exodus 5:1-23
Exodus 5:1-23: "1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness."' 2 And Pharaoh said, 'Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.' 3 So they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.' 4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, 'Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.' 5 And Pharaoh said, 'Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!' 6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, 7 'You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, "Let us go and sacrifice to our God." 9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.' 10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, 'Thus says Pharaoh: "I will not give you straw. 11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced."' 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, 'Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.' 14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, 'Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?' 15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, 'Why are you dealing thus with your servants? 16 There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, "Make brick!" And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.' 17 But he said, 'You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, "Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD." 18 Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.' 19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, 'You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota.' 20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, 'Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.' 22 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, 'Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.'"
In this pericope we see a glimpse of the oppression of the Israelite nation put upon them by Pharaoh, and the taskmasters placed over them. We also see that Moses' task is not going to be an easy one. As the saying goes, "Things are going to get a lot worse, before they get better." This is certainly the case with regard to the people of Israel. After the request of Moses and Aaron to go three days journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord God, Pharaoh becomes belligerent, and forces the Israelites to now not only make the same amount of bricks as before, but also to now gather the straw, which was before provided for them. Our Lord does this so that He might remove any desire of the Israelite nation to stay in Egypt, and so He makes their labor so harsh, that they will want to leave.
We see the reason for the Pharaoh's treatment of the Jews, and we can really see what is in his heart from the statement, "I do not know the Lord." It was not uncommon during this time period for people to offer sacrifices to their gods, and for people to do what their gods commanded them. So this was quite a reasonable request of Moses and Aaron. We see how faithless Pharaoh is, for even if there was a shred of the fear of God in him, he would have let them go. But we see here just how much of an enemy of God Pharaoh is. In a sense, he represents the devil himself, the great oppressor and accuser of the children of God. From this we can see how when our Lord desires to draw us closer to him, the devil, and the world and our sinful flesh, drive us into further and greater oppression, so that we might lose faith in our God.
This seems to be the case with the Israelites, for after learning of why they are being treated this way by Pharaoh, who do they blame? Moses and Aaron. But in reality they are really blaming God. So it would seem that our Lord's plan to use Pharaoh's oppression to drive them closer to Himself, is not working. However, our Lord God bears the reproach patiently, for He knows that in the end, He will win the battle.
In this we see a picture of our Lord's suffering and death. For He bears the suffering and pain and shame of the beating, and mockery and the crucifixion, because He knows that He will win the victory over sin and death by doing so. In this our Lord God shows that His ways are not the ways of the world. For the world would desire to do everything the easy way, and the quickest way, with the least amount of suffering. But our Lord God suffers reproach on our behalf, in order that He might draw us to Himself.
And this is just as true for us as is was for the Israelites, for when we suffer the onslaughts of the devil, the world and our flesh, we cry out to our God, and He hears us and delivers us, by preaching His holy Word into our ears, so that we are comforted in His Word of forgiveness, and through His constant preaching to us, and by the working of the Holy Ghost through the means of grace, and our participation in them, He strengthens our faith in Him, so that we learn to bear the reproaches of the world, and the devil, and our flesh, even as He did for us.
This of course is what we mean when we talk about faith tried and tested in fire. Holy Scripture uses this illustration of fire purging the impurities out of gold. Fire purifies. It burns away all that makes us impure. But being burned is not a pleasant experience. It certainly must not be for the gold which undergoes a metamorphasis. We through this purification by the fire of the Holy Ghost, undergo a transformation as well. We are made into stronger Christians. Our faith is strengthened, our resolve is increased, so that we learn to withstand greater and greater reproaches, for we know the reward that awaits us. And it is this reward which gives us great hope to endure trouble and trial in this life.
However, the question is always raised when one reads through this part of Exodus about Pharaoh. How come God "causes his heart to be hardened?" Is God sacrificing someone for the good of mankind? It is the same question asked about Judas. How come God couldn't save him, or Pharaoh? The simple answer is, they hardened their own hearts against God. We see this today often, there are those in the Church, who through hardship, are driven from the Church. Their faith is tried and tested, and it fails. What of these people? It is a difficult thing to say, but they have shut their ears to the Word of God, they have hardened their hearts against God.
Instead of rejoicing that their Lord and God is purifying them, that He loves them so much that He cares to make them pure and holy in His sight, they respond like Pharaoh, like Judas, and like the Israelites in this pericope. They blame God, and get angry at Him. Perhaps this makes our Lord God out to be a sadistic god, playing with us like a child plays with his toy action figures, treating them harshly for his own sick pleasures. This, however, is not the case at all. Instead, He desires to strengthen our faith, and draw us closer to Him.
Sadly, there are some people who will never see this. They will always consider our Lord God to be cruel and unforgiving. It is these who in actuality do not have shred of the fear of God in their hearts, just like Pharaoh. And although our Lord God continuously is correcting them, and trying desparately to drive them down the right path, they will only continue to harden their hearts.
However, there are those whose hard hearts, will be softened, and they will listen, and they will heed the Word of God, and learn to rejoice in the reproaches that come our way. The people of Israel, did just this. Not all of them listened, and some of them we left to die in the wilderness, but a whole generation of the people of Israel, did learn to love and trust in the Lord God as their only Lord and Savior, and they were brought into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.
This is the eternal reward that awaits you and I as we suffer the trials and tribulations of this life. And we have to confess, that our lives are not all that bad. Our Lord gives us of His very self, every Sunday and feast day, in His very Body and Blood given in bread and wine. He even shares with us His holy Gospel, whenever we gather together to worship Him, and hear His holy Word. This is why the Church traditionally has worshipped every day, morning and evening, so that as we are purified by the fire of trial and tribulation in this life, we might find comfort and hope in our Lord Jesus' holy Gospel.
Our Lord Jesus, our Savior, suffered the all the reproaches that the devil, the world, and sin could throw at Him. And He did it all for us, out of His great love for us. And although, He allows the devil to trouble us in this life, He does not allow him to trouble us beyond our capability, nor does He allow him to completely destroy us. Even and especially when we think we are completely ruined, our Lord has us in His holy arms. The arms that He extends to all of us on the holy cross of His tormenting and death. In His crucifixion we see how our Lord saves us, for even when He seems to be completely destroyed, that the battle has been lost, He is in reality the victor. And to prove it to us, He raises Himself from the dead. In this we see how when we face adversity, and even though it may seem like we are completely destroyed, in reality, we have really gained the victory, for our Lord Jesus reveals His love and grace and mercy for us, and strengthens and renews our faith, so that we trust Him completely unto life everlasting.
May the Lord God grant you grace, even in tribulation, to see His loving gracious hand, and may He hold and protect you in His loving arms.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
This seems to be the case with the Israelites, for after learning of why they are being treated this way by Pharaoh, who do they blame? Moses and Aaron. But in reality they are really blaming God. So it would seem that our Lord's plan to use Pharaoh's oppression to drive them closer to Himself, is not working. However, our Lord God bears the reproach patiently, for He knows that in the end, He will win the battle.
In this we see a picture of our Lord's suffering and death. For He bears the suffering and pain and shame of the beating, and mockery and the crucifixion, because He knows that He will win the victory over sin and death by doing so. In this our Lord God shows that His ways are not the ways of the world. For the world would desire to do everything the easy way, and the quickest way, with the least amount of suffering. But our Lord God suffers reproach on our behalf, in order that He might draw us to Himself.
And this is just as true for us as is was for the Israelites, for when we suffer the onslaughts of the devil, the world and our flesh, we cry out to our God, and He hears us and delivers us, by preaching His holy Word into our ears, so that we are comforted in His Word of forgiveness, and through His constant preaching to us, and by the working of the Holy Ghost through the means of grace, and our participation in them, He strengthens our faith in Him, so that we learn to bear the reproaches of the world, and the devil, and our flesh, even as He did for us.
This of course is what we mean when we talk about faith tried and tested in fire. Holy Scripture uses this illustration of fire purging the impurities out of gold. Fire purifies. It burns away all that makes us impure. But being burned is not a pleasant experience. It certainly must not be for the gold which undergoes a metamorphasis. We through this purification by the fire of the Holy Ghost, undergo a transformation as well. We are made into stronger Christians. Our faith is strengthened, our resolve is increased, so that we learn to withstand greater and greater reproaches, for we know the reward that awaits us. And it is this reward which gives us great hope to endure trouble and trial in this life.
However, the question is always raised when one reads through this part of Exodus about Pharaoh. How come God "causes his heart to be hardened?" Is God sacrificing someone for the good of mankind? It is the same question asked about Judas. How come God couldn't save him, or Pharaoh? The simple answer is, they hardened their own hearts against God. We see this today often, there are those in the Church, who through hardship, are driven from the Church. Their faith is tried and tested, and it fails. What of these people? It is a difficult thing to say, but they have shut their ears to the Word of God, they have hardened their hearts against God.
Instead of rejoicing that their Lord and God is purifying them, that He loves them so much that He cares to make them pure and holy in His sight, they respond like Pharaoh, like Judas, and like the Israelites in this pericope. They blame God, and get angry at Him. Perhaps this makes our Lord God out to be a sadistic god, playing with us like a child plays with his toy action figures, treating them harshly for his own sick pleasures. This, however, is not the case at all. Instead, He desires to strengthen our faith, and draw us closer to Him.
Sadly, there are some people who will never see this. They will always consider our Lord God to be cruel and unforgiving. It is these who in actuality do not have shred of the fear of God in their hearts, just like Pharaoh. And although our Lord God continuously is correcting them, and trying desparately to drive them down the right path, they will only continue to harden their hearts.
However, there are those whose hard hearts, will be softened, and they will listen, and they will heed the Word of God, and learn to rejoice in the reproaches that come our way. The people of Israel, did just this. Not all of them listened, and some of them we left to die in the wilderness, but a whole generation of the people of Israel, did learn to love and trust in the Lord God as their only Lord and Savior, and they were brought into the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.
This is the eternal reward that awaits you and I as we suffer the trials and tribulations of this life. And we have to confess, that our lives are not all that bad. Our Lord gives us of His very self, every Sunday and feast day, in His very Body and Blood given in bread and wine. He even shares with us His holy Gospel, whenever we gather together to worship Him, and hear His holy Word. This is why the Church traditionally has worshipped every day, morning and evening, so that as we are purified by the fire of trial and tribulation in this life, we might find comfort and hope in our Lord Jesus' holy Gospel.
Our Lord Jesus, our Savior, suffered the all the reproaches that the devil, the world, and sin could throw at Him. And He did it all for us, out of His great love for us. And although, He allows the devil to trouble us in this life, He does not allow him to trouble us beyond our capability, nor does He allow him to completely destroy us. Even and especially when we think we are completely ruined, our Lord has us in His holy arms. The arms that He extends to all of us on the holy cross of His tormenting and death. In His crucifixion we see how our Lord saves us, for even when He seems to be completely destroyed, that the battle has been lost, He is in reality the victor. And to prove it to us, He raises Himself from the dead. In this we see how when we face adversity, and even though it may seem like we are completely destroyed, in reality, we have really gained the victory, for our Lord Jesus reveals His love and grace and mercy for us, and strengthens and renews our faith, so that we trust Him completely unto life everlasting.
May the Lord God grant you grace, even in tribulation, to see His loving gracious hand, and may He hold and protect you in His loving arms.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
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