Jesus as Temple

by Damien F. Mackey "And the Word became flesh and Tabernacled among us". John 1:14 Introduction Some non-Christians, such as the Moslem scholar Dr Ali Ataie (Christian Zionism: a Major Oxymoron), are emphasising that the Christian Zionists are going against the New Testament by hoping to hasten the end times and the Final Coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, by re-building the (third) Temple in Jerusalem. For, as these non-Christians rightly say, Jesus had claimed of the old Temple that “not one stone here will be left on another” (Mark 13:2), and that He himself was now the Temple. In this way, such non-Christians have read the New Testament far more accurately than have the Christian Zionists, who are succeeding only in emptying the Scriptures of their true meaning. A completely new age had been ushered in with the return of Jesus, as He said, to bring fiery Justice upon the evil and adulterous generation that had crucified Him (cf. Malachi 3:5: “I will come to you in judgment ....”). The land of Israel was ravaged and burned, its capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple was totally eradicated, and those thousands of Jews who were not killed were taken away into captivity. That physically severed forever the ancient Abrahamic connection between the Jews and the Holy Land. The far more important spiritual connection with Abraham, based on Faith, a pre-requisite for the possession of the Holy Land, had already been shattered. So much so that Jesus, when the Jews boasted of having Abraham for their father, insisted that the Devil, not Abraham, was the father of the prophet-slaying Jews. 'You belong to your father the Devil' (John 8:44). Saint Paul in Galatians makes it quite clear that the connection with Abraham is only through Jesus Christ, the “seed” of Abraham (3:29): “And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise”. The straw that broke the camel's back would be the rejection of, and murder of, the Prophet of Prophets himself, Jesus the Christ. It is sad and quite frustrating to see pious Jews now reverencing a large Roman wall situated well away from where the Jerusalem Temples had stood, and hopefully expecting the Messiah to arrive in Jerusalem in the not too distant future. Nor is it any good that Zionists - including the Christian version of these - a very powerful and wealthy lobby, have that same goal of re-building the stone Temple (in the wrong place, it must be said), to welcome the Messiah, or Jesus (depending on whether one is Jewish or Christian). Pope Pius X and Zionism Does Zionism have a place? Not according to the reaction of pope Saint Pius X, who replied to Theodor Herzl in a meeting in 1904: https://catholicism.org/the-zionist-and-the-saint.html …. The pope was Saint Pius X. According to Herzl’s diaries, when asked to support a Jewish settlement in Palestine, the saint “answered in a stern and categorical manner: ‘We are unable to favor this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem — but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church, I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized Our Lord; therefore, we cannot recognize the Jewish people.’ That is not to say that the popes are anti-semitic, a separate issue. Pope Pius XI would remind Catholics (via a group of Belgian pilgrims) back in 1938, in the face of tyrannical pressure being exerted upon the Jews, 'We are spiritually Semites'. And the Church favourably included the Jews (and Muslims) in the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate. {I have difficulty with the restriction of the term, Semitic, to merely the culturally Jewish people. Plenty of others are of Semitic origins. Added to that, we no longer know, since c. 70 AD, who of those claiming to be Jews, and who are culturally Jewish, are actually ethnically Jewish}. ‘Destroy this Temple’ The pivotal biblical association of Jesus with the Temple was, of course, the incident of his cleansing of the sacred place from the money-changers. This led to his assertion: ‘Destroy this Temple and I will rebuild it in three days’ (John 2:19). And, though it had taken 46 years to build the last stone Temple (2:20), the Word is timeless. The Apostles realised that Jesus was speaking of the Temple of his very body (John 2:21-22). Jesus is the new Temple, a spiritual Temple that neither Gog and Magog, the Babylonians, the Romans, nor renegade Jewish zealots, would be able to quench. So, even if the modern Zionists do achieve their aim of building a temple complete with priests and animal sacrifices, again completely against the New Testament that has Jesus as the true High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) making the one and only sacrifice - and which temple will be situated in quite the wrong place anyway, and so not geographically legitimate - it will all be completely futile and irrelevant in the great cosmic scheme of things. And it will not succeed in luring the true Messiah. “Tabernacled Among Us” No wonder that Jesus was wont to go all the way back to Moses to explain himself (Luke 24:27). His human existence, moving amongst his people, had been foreshadowed back in the time of Moses, in the Pentateuch, by the moveable Tent of Meeting, or Tabernacle. Exodus 33:7-11: Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Jesus, too, was often on the move among the people. Saint John picks this up in his Gospel by likening the Word's human existence, dwelling on earth, to being Tabernacled (ἐσκήνωσεν). That is the literal meaning of the text, and it is meant to recall the Tent of Meeting which contained the glorious Ark of the Covenant with its mercy seat, the Menorah, and the shew bread. Centuries before (cf. I Kings 6:1) King Solomon would successfully build the fixed Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem, the Lord's dwelling amongst the people of Israel was to be, for centuries, this moveable Tent. “Glory of the Lord” “God was at the centre. Surrounding the Tent were the Levites. And around the Levites were the 12 tribes of Israel” (cf. Numbers 2:2). Wherever nomadic Israel was, encamped around the Tent to which were aligned the twelve tribes of Israel, there was to be seen the shining Pillar of Fire, the Kavod Yahweh, “Glory of the Lord”. The shining Cloud is popularly (but not biblically) known as the Shekinah. When King Solomon built the Temple of Yahweh, the Glory Cloud came and rested upon the Temple as a sign to Israel that this was where God dwelt upon earth (2 Chronicles 7:1-2): “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it”. But, centuries later, after Israel had malevolently apostatised, and just prior to the first destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, the prophet Ezekiel saw the Glory Cloud (the Lord) depart from the Temple (Ezekiel 10:18): "Then the Glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the Temple ...". Israel was now on its own. It appears that the Kavod Yahweh did not return even after the exiles from Babylon had rebuilt the second Temple, goaded on by Haggai and Zechariah. Those old enough to remember the former Temple wept (Ezra 3:12; cf. Tobit 14:5). But the prophet Haggai - who, as I need to point out for what will follow, was Tobias (= Job) the son of Tobit, Tobias having been given the Akkadian name, Habakkuk (shortened by the Jews to Haggai) - seemed confident that Kavod Yahweh would eventually return and that the Temple in Jerusalem would be even greater than before (Haggai 2:6-7). But this outlook has Messianic ramifications (cf. Malachi 3:1). The alignment of the twelve tribes of Israel to the ancient Tent of Meeting, and to the later Temple built by King Solomon, anticipated Jesus and his twelve Apostles, upon whom the New Jerusalem was to be built (Revelation 21:19). Nativity and the “Glory of the Lord” Biblical scholars wonder: Why does Luke refer to the Shepherds but not the Magi, and Matthew, to the Magi but not the Shepherds? Some have even tried to tie together all in one the Shepherds-as-the-Magi - a thesis that had really grabbed my interest for a while. The connecting link between Luke and Matthew here is the Kavod Yahweh. The Magi knew that what they had seen was His star because it was the Kavod Yahweh returning to Jerusalem, as their ancestors had foretold, with the birth of the King of the Jews. What the Magi saw was the same glorious manifestation of light that the Shepherds likewise had seen at the Nativity. The Magi possibly delayed their trip significantly to allow for the Christ Child to grow and so take his rightful place seated in Jerusalem. (They would well have known from Micah 5:2, however, that the Nativity was to occur in Bethlehem). That is why the Magi eventually headed for Jerusalem not led by the Star, which they saw again only after they had left King Herod. It led them to “the house”” (no longer the stable) (Matthew 2:9). So, just as the Kavod Yahweh would lead the Israelites through the wilderness, and would stop wherever they needed to halt, so did the same Kavod Yahweh now lead the Magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and stop. This can be no regular star because it stopped. It was a guiding Cloud of Light, the Glory of the Lord. One could say, it follows the Lamb wherever He goes. It was still associated with the infant Jesus when He appeared to Sister Lucia on a shining cloud at Pontevedra (Spain) in 1925, to request the Communion of Reparation (the Five First Saturdays), whose 100th anniversary we will be celebrating next year, 2025, the Jubilee Year of Hope. The Fatima seer, Sister Lucia, described the resplendent apparition which we need to heed now as a matter of great urgency: https://fatima.org/news-views/the-apparition-of-our-lady-and-the-child-jesus-at-pontevedra/ “On December 10, 1925, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to her [Lucia], and by Her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was the Child Jesus. The Most Holy Virgin rested Her hand on her shoulder, and as She did so, She showed her a heart encircled by thorns, which She was holding in Her other hand. At the same time, the Child said: “‘Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.’ “Then the Most Holy Virgin said: “‘Look, My daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and announce in My name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me.’” Blood and water flows from the Temple The Passover ritual that was occurring at the Temple while Jesus, the Lamb of God, was being crucified, facing the Temple, was being enacted in his very flesh. The slaughter of the sacrificial lambs, for instance. The rending of the huge curtain of the Holy of Holies. Even the priests sprinkling the floor with blood was imaged when Judas (was he a priest?) threw the blood money across the floor in front of the priests. (Dr. Ernest L. Martin, RIP, brillianty picked up this one). But, most significantly, the blood and water that gushed out from the side of the Temple when the priests opened a side door, at the same time that blood and water was flowing from the pierced side of Jesus on the Cross (as noted by Dr Ali Ataie, Christian Zionism: a Major Oxymoron).

Virulent anti-Catholic, Alphonse Ratisbonne, converted through the Miraculous Medal

“Have you the courage to submit yourself to a very simple and innocent test? Only to wear a little something I will give you; look, it is a medal of the Blessed Virgin. It seems very ridiculous, does it not? But, I assure you, I attach great value and efficacy to this little medal. [Also] you must say every night and morning the Memorare, a very short and very efficacious prayer which St. Bernard addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Theodore de Bussieres https://aleteia.org/2017/08/14/how-a-radical-atheist-became-a-catholic-priest How a radical atheist became a Catholic priest Philip Kosloski - published on 08/14/17 He hated the Church until one event changed his life forever … and his story would later impress Maximilian Kolbe. Born into a wealthy Jewish family in France in 1814, Alphonse Ratisbonne was set to become part of his uncle’s large banking firm. At first Ratisbonne was a nominal Jew, but when his older brother converted to the Catholic faith and became a priest, a hidden rage woke within him. Ratisbonne wrote, “When my brother became a Catholic, and a priest, I persecuted him with a more unrelenting fury than any other member of my family. We were completely sundered; I hated him with a virulent hatred, though he had fully pardoned me.” Furthermore this hatred for his brother was broadened to include all Catholics, and Ratisbonne explained how it “made me believe all I heard of the fanaticism of the Catholics, and I held them accordingly in great horror.” This also affected his personal beliefs and he came to no longer believe in God. Ratisbonne was too busy following worldly pursuits to worry about his Jewish faith and his deep hatred for Catholicism only pushed him further away from any type of religion. He eventually began to feel the void in his heart, but at first sought to cure it through marriage. Ratisbonne was betrothed to his niece, but because of her young age the wedding was postponed. During this time of waiting Ratisbonne decided to travel without any singular purpose. His trip started out by traveling to Naples, where he stayed for about a month. After that Ratisbonne wanted to go to Malta, but took the wrong boat and arrived in Rome. He stayed there, making the best of it, and ran into an old friend. One day when visiting his friend Ratisbonne encountered a Catholic convert, Theodore de Bussieres, who knew Ratisbonne’s priest-brother. While this made Ratisbonne hate the man, he enjoyed conversing with him because of his knowledge. Later Ratisbonne visited de Bussieres again. They had a heated discussion about Catholicism and de Bussieres made a wager with Ratisbonne. Have you the courage to submit yourself to a very simple and innocent test? Only to wear a little something I will give you; look, it is a medal of the Blessed Virgin. It seems very ridiculous, does it not? But, I assure you, I attach great value and efficacy to this little medal. [Also] you must say every night and morning the Memorare, a very short and very efficacious prayer which St. Bernard addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. While at first Ratisbonne protested at wearing the medal (which was the Miraculous Medal), he decided to put it around his neck and say the prayer each day. He figured that it couldn’t do any harm and would prove to all the ridiculous nature of Catholicism. Ratisbonne lived up to his side of the bargain, finding it easy to recite the Memorare. Then one day he was traveling in the city with de Bussieres and they stopped at the church Saint Andrea delle Fratte. When Ratisbonne entered the church it appeared to be engulfed in a marvelous light. He looked to an altar from where the light was coming and saw the Virgin Mary, appearing as she did on the Miraculous Medal. He left the church in tears, clutching his Miraculous Medal. Several days later he was received into the Catholic Church. After returning to Paris his betrothed was shocked and rejected him and his new religion. Ratisbonne then entered the Jesuits and was ordained a priest. This amazing story of conversion would later influence Saint Maximilian Kolbe to found the Militia Immaculatae and convinced him of the power of the Miraculous Medal. He firmly believed in Mary’s role in bringing the world to Christ. Read more: “Life for Life” and the living memory of Maximilian Kolbe

Fatima revelations and the message of Divine Mercy

“Sr. Lucia and St. Faustina, who were contemporaries, were each given a mission to spread the same message, though different in aspect. While Our Lady of Fatima gave Sr. Lucia a warning of divine judgment and the need for penance, Our Lord came to St. Faustina to encourage souls to implore his mercy as a final recourse to be saved from this impending judgment”. Gretchen Filz The Connection Between St. Faustina and Fatima Jul 05, 2017 by Gretchen Filz https://www.catholiccompany.com/magazine/st-faustina-fatima-6087 What do the private revelations of St. Faustina Kowalska have in common with the events at Fatima? Visions of a destroying angel and of the Holy Trinity, the 13th day, a call to penance, and a fervent prayer for mercy. The Blessed Virgin Mary chose to appear at Fatima in 1917 on the 13th day of the month from May to October, for the purpose of warning the world of its need for penance, and the impending dangers it faced if it did not—the first of which was a second world war. In the years leading up to World War II, a related message was given to a young Polish nun named Sister Faustina Kowalska. On the 13th of September in 1935, St. Faustina received a vision in her convent cell. Similar to the earlier vision given to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Faustina's vision was of an angel, who was ready to execute God's wrath in punishment for the sins of mankind, and of the Holy Trinity. St. Faustina earnestly prayed for mercy as she beheld the destroying angel ready to unleash the impending judgment on the world. It was on this 13th day of the month that Our Lord revealed a prayer to St. Faustina known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. As written in the Diary of St. Faustina: "[The angel] was clothed in a dazzling robe, his face gloriously bright, a cloud beneath his feet. From the cloud, bolts of thunder and flashes of lightning were springing into his hands; and from his hand they were going forth, and only then were they striking the earth. When I saw this sign of divine wrath which was about to strike the earth, and in particular a certain place, which for good reasons I cannot name, I began to implore the angel to hold off for a few moments, and the world would do penance. But my plea was a mere nothing in the face of the divine anger. Just then I saw the Most Holy Trinity. The greatness of Its majesty pierced me deeply, and I did not dare to repeat my entreaties. At that very moment I felt in my soul the power of Jesus' grace, which dwells in my soul. When I became conscious of this grace, I was instantly snatched up before the Throne of God. Oh, how great is our Lord and God and how incomprehensible His holiness! I will make no attempt to describe this greatness, because before long we shall all see Him as He is. I found myself pleading with God for the world with words heard interiorly. As I was praying in this manner, I saw the Angel’s helplessness: he could not carry out the just punishment which was rightly due for sins. Never before had I prayed with such inner power as I did then. The words with which I entreated God are these: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us. The next morning, when I entered chapel, I heard these words interiorly: Every time you enter the chapel, immediately recite the prayer which I taught you yesterday.' When I had said the prayer, in my soul I heard these words: 'This prayer will serve to appease My wrath . . ." Sr. Lucia also had a vision of both a destroying angel ready to inflict God's punishment on the earth, and, years later, of the Holy Trinity. In her account of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima on July 13, 1917, the message of which was part of the Third Secret, Lucia writes: "After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'" On the 13th day of June in the year 1929, Sr. Lucia received this vision of the Holy Trinity as she was making a Holy Hour: "Suddenly the whole chapel was illumined by a supernatural light, and above the altar appeared a cross of light, reaching to the ceiling. In a brighter light on the upper part of the cross, could be seen the face of a man and his body as far as the waist, upon his breast was a dove also of light and nailed to the cross was the body of another man. A little below the waist, I could see a chalice and a large host suspended in the air, on to which drops of blood were falling from the face of Jesus Crucified and from the wound in His side. These drops ran down on to the host and fell into the chalice. Beneath the right arm of the cross was Our Lady and in her hand was her Immaculate Heart. (It was Our Lady of Fatima, with her Immaculate Heart in her left hand, without sword or roses, but with a crown of thorns and flames). Under the left arm of the cross, large letters, as if of crystal clear water which ran down upon the altar, formed these words: ‘Grace and Mercy.’ I understood that it was the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity which was shown to me, and I received lights about this mystery which I am not permitted to reveal . . ." During this vision of the Holy Trinity, Our Lady proceeded to make her request, as foretold in 1917, for the consecration of Russia in order to prevent the calamities that were ready to sweep over the world. In the vision recounted above, Sr. Lucia beheld both blood and water emanating from Christ, similar imagery to the Divine Mercy vision that was later revealed to St. Faustina. Was the light of this mystery, which Sr. Lucia was not permitted to reveal, the mystery of the Divine Mercy which was soon to be given to St. Faustina? Read next Everything You Need to Know about the Divine Mercy Devotion Sr. Lucia and St. Faustina, who were contemporaries, were each given a mission to spread the same message, though different in aspect. While Our Lady of Fatima gave Sr. Lucia a warning of divine judgment and the need for penance, Our Lord came to St. Faustina to encourage souls to implore his mercy as a final recourse to be saved from this impending judgment. Sr. Lucia made known that the message of Fatima, namely, the Third Secret, was connected to the frightful global judgments found in the Book of Revelation. Our Lord, in light of these future punishments for mankind's sin, said to St. Faustina, "Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy." The prayers taught interiorly to the two nuns were also similar. The prayer the Angel of Peace taught to the three children of Fatima prior to Our Lady's appearances: "Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You for the conversion of poor sinners." And the Divine Mercy prayer given to St. Faustina: "Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world." Both nuns would also pray for God's mercy on the world while standing with arms extended out to their sides, in the same manner as Our Lord suffered on the cross. They also both prayed earnestly for the spiritual conversion of their home countries; Lucia for Portugal, and Faustina for Poland. May we let the example of Sr. Lucia and St. Faustina be a call to respond to the urgent need for prayer and penance during the evil times in which we are now living, namely for the temporal protection of our countries and the eternal salvation of souls. Do you want to learn more about the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima? Subscribe to our 30-day content series at GoodCatholic.com.

About speaking in tongues

“The point is that it’s not up to the individual to determine which gifts he or she wants. And just because all believers may want to speak in tongues doesn’t mean that they will. It is God “who apportions to each one individually as he wills”.” Justin This commentator, who goes simply by the name, “Justin”, is clear and concise, presenting some extremely useful insights, all of them delivered with a southern twang: https://thespiritsearches.com/do-all-speak-in-tongues/ Do All Speak in Tongues? June 23, 2023 | Justin This article is part of my resource titled: An In-Depth Study of the Nature, Purpose, and Duration of Tongues. …. Many charismatics make the claim that it’s God’s will for all believers to speak in tongues. What then can be said for the multitude of Christians who have not experienced this phenomena? Do they simply lack the faith to receive this gift? If such is the case, then what can be said of all the great men throughout church history who did not possess this ability? Are we to assume that their faith was too small even though God used them in mighty ways to advance his kingdom on earth? And what are we to make of those in the early church; those who we read about in the book of Acts who have nothing of the miraculous and supernatural sort attached to their record? Reason would suggest that if it was God’s will for all to receive the gift of tongues, then certainly all of those who were alive during this time period would have done so. But such is not the case. For whatever reason it seems that God has chosen this current generation to generously bestow this blessing upon; that all who call upon his name not only shall be saved, but given the ability to speak in tongues, an ability withheld from the majority of Christians ever since Christianity became a thing. Throughout this lesson, we’ll explore what Scripture has to say about the distribution of spiritual gifts and hopefully dispel the idea that all believers have the ability to speak in tongues. What About Mark 16? The primary text that proponents of this view point to is Mark 16:16-18. Here Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” In a previous lesson we discussed this passage at length so I won’t do so again here. However, we will examine it briefly for the sake of supporting our argument. First of all, the legitimacy of this passage is questionable. With regards to verses 9-20, Robert Gromacki in his book The Modern Tongues Movement says that “no Greek manuscript earlier than the fifth century has it.” Meaning that the oldest, and presumably more accurate manuscripts of Mark 16 don’t contain this passage. Although this isn’t enough to dogmatically assert that it isn’t inspired, we shouldn’t base our understanding of any particular doctrine on it, especially that of tongues. Furthermore, if this passage does indeed testify to the fact that every individual believer ought to speak in tongues, then likewise they should cast out demons, handle serpents and drink poison innocuously, and heal the sick at will. No right minded believer can make the claim that such is the case, nor that God intended it to be. If he did, then why don’t we see this taking place throughout the entirety of church history? Has God’s intended will for the believer been failing only to succeed with the believers of the last 100 years or so? I doubt it. And lastly, the “those who believe” of this passage cannot refer to every individual believer. In fact, it points more strongly towards the apostles exclusively since the bulk of the miracles we read about in the New Testament are attributed to them. There are some cases where people other than the apostles speak in tongues and or perform miracles but they are few and far between in comparison. In another previous lesson, A Timeline of Tongues Throughout the Book of Acts, I reference close to two dozen passages where believers and new believers are mentioned who are never said to have spoken in tongues or performed anything miraculous as the result of their faith in Christ. That being said, Mark 16 does not support the theory that all believers can or should speak in tongues for not even every believer mentioned in the New Testament did so. If such was not the standard then, by what means does it become so today? God’s Sovereignty Over Spiritual Gifts Many charismatics will say that in order for someone to speak in tongues, they have to sincerely desire the gift, that they have to pray for it and seek after it in order to receive it. This is contrary to what Paul says about the reception of spiritual gifts. After giving a list of spiritual gifts, including tongues, in 1 Corinthians 12:4-10, Paul says in v.11 that “all these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” It is God who determines who receives which spiritual gifts. Therefore nothing we say or do can bring it about. If God intended for us to have it, we would have it without having to beg and plead for it. Consider the apostles on the day of Pentecost. Do we read of them begging God for the ability to speak in tongues? What about Cornelius and his household? Did they do likewise? And what of the disciples of John the Baptist in Ephesus? Did they pray vehemently and with great desire prior to being granted their ability? The answer is no. (See Acts 2, Acts 10, & Acts 19) The point is that it’s not up to the individual to determine which gifts he or she wants. And just because all believers may want to speak in tongues doesn’t mean that they will. It is God “who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” The Body of Christ and the Physical Body After pointing out God’s sovereignty in the distribution of spiritual gifts, Paul makes a contrast between the body of Christ and the physical body for the sake of demonstrating that not all believers receive the same gifts. Consider the following verses: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12,14-20 The entire point of Paul’s words here is to make it clear that not every believer would have the same gifts and that that’s ok. If the entire physical body consisted of a single member, say the foot, then “where would the body be?” There wouldn’t be one. Unless the body is made up of many different members it isn’t complete. So it is with the body of Christ. If every member had the same gift, say speaking in tongues, then the body would be incomplete. That being said, it goes against Paul’s teaching here to assume that all believers can speak in tongues. Are we also to assume that all believers can interpret tongues, utter words of wisdom or knowledge, prophesy, perform miracles or do any of the other things listed in 1 Corinthians 12:4-10? Why would we? For what does the text say? “For to one is given through the Spirit…” not “to all is given.” It is no more fitting that the entire body of Christ speak in tongues than it is for the human body to consist of merely an eye. Paul’s Rhetorical Questions After making his contrast between the physical body and the body of Christ Paul goes on to say the following: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 Paul’s emphasis on God’s sovereignty in distributing spiritual gifts and positions is stressed again here. By asking this series of rhetorical questions he clearly demonstrates that it’s not God’s will for all of God’s people to have the same roles and gifts as one another. It’s God that “has appointed in the church” by his divine decree apostles, prophets, teachers, tongue speakers and so on. The diversity of roles and gifts within the body of Christ are part of God’s will. To say that all believers can speak in tongues is to go against God’s strategy for equipping the church with gifts vital to its function. “Are all apostles?”, asks Paul. The obvious answer is no. And no is the answer to the rest of his rhetorical questions. Not all believers can speak in tongues any more than all believers can be apostles. If we’re going to answer “yes” to Paul’s questions about whether or not all can speak in tongues then we have to be willing to answer “yes” to the rest of his questions. But to make the claim that all can be apostles is not one that even most charismatics would make. Believers from every denomination easily recognize the unique role the apostles played in laying the foundations of the church (Ephesians 2:20). Once the original apostles died there were none to take their place. So why would we say that all believers can speak in tongues if we can’t make the same claim to apostleship, to being a prophet, to being a teacher and so on? This inconsistency is only one of many which plague the charismatic movement and cloud their judgment with regards to speaking in tongues. The Unfortunate Masses of the Early Church If speaking in tongues is meant to be something which every believer can and ought to do, then surely we should hope to find confirmation of this in the New Testament record. However, upon scouring the pages of Acts we find very little evidence of this being the case. There is very little in the book of Acts to suggest that speaking in tongues was the normative experience for all believers. In fact, it’s episodic, occurring explicitly only three times and inexplicitly four. (See Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10, & Acts 19) Take for example the 3000 souls on the day of Pentecost which were added to the church. Nothing is said of them speaking in tongues (Acts 2:38-39,41). The lame beggar who was healed and presumably converted upon this experience isn’t said to have spoken in tongues (Acts 3:1-10). The Ethiopian eunuch who was saved and baptized after having the Scriptures explained to him by Philip didn’t speak in tongues but rather “went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). “All the residents of Lydda and Sharon…who turned to the Lord” aren’t said to have spoken in tongues (Acts 9:32-35) and on and on it goes all throughout the book of Acts. More often than not when believers are mentioned throughout this book, there is nothing to suggest that anything supernatural occurred. Of course, one may argue that this is an argument from silence but to counter this argument would be to argue from assumption. To assume that all these believers did in fact speak in tongues is to eisegete the text, meaning that instead of letting the text speak for itself one’s own opinion, thoughts or assumptions are inserted into the text, making it mean what they want it to mean. This is a dangerous practice and leads to many misunderstandings about Scripture. If the charismatic wishes to dogmatically claim that the normative experience for all believers is to speak in tongues, they’ll have to find support for their theory outside of Scripture. Their assumptions prove nothing. Too Much of a Good Thing is a Bad Thing Finally, if speaking in tongues was something all believers are supposed to do, then why the prohibitions? In 1 Corinthians 14:27 Paul says that, “If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.” And again a few verses prior Paul says, “If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?” (1 Corinthians 14:23). It doesn’t seem right that God would intend for every believer to speak in tongues when the result, according to Paul, is that people will assess the church as a gathering of mad men. After all, “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Final Thoughts The claim that all believers can or ought to speak in tongues is not based on sound biblical exegesis. It stems from a charismatic presupposition which insists on the events of the early church being normative for the church in every consecutive age. There is nothing within the text, however, to suggest that God meant for these signs and wonders to continue indefinitely or that every believer was in possession of the gift of tongues, or that every future believer would come to acquire it. The sign of tongues, along with the rest of the supernatural phenomena we read about in the New Testament, was given to confirm the validity of the Gospel message as truly being from God. These signs also validated the apostles as being the vessels through which God was speaking and working. Without these signs, the words of the apostles would have fallen on deaf ears just as the words of Moses would have had not God given him the ability to perform signs in the sight of the people of Israel (Exodus 4:1-9). [End of article] On Gospel validity, read the following (2012) article: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/gospel-validity-messages The Gospel Validity of the Messages The following is an excerpt from the revised edition of Tell My Priests, by Fr. George W. Kosicki, CSB (Marian Press, 2012), which gathers the words our Lord spoke to priests about His mercy as revealed to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: The six messages of our Lord and Our Lady addressed to St. Faustina in regard to priests are entirely in keeping with Pope John Paul II's criterion for acceptable private revelations. They contain "a truth and a call whose basic content is the truth and call of the Gospel itself" (Homily at Fatima, 1982). This Gospel dimension of the messages can be most clearly seen by re-examining each message, isolating a few key words that summarize its basic content, and then comparing these key words to some of the many texts of the Old and New Testaments that speak of trust in God and of His mercy. I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners. Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me - clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls (Diary, 50). Key Words: • Preach the Lord's great mercy • Reach out to sinners • Tell them of God's desire to be merciful Mt 4:17 "From that time on Jesus began to proclaim this theme: 'Reform your lives! The kingdom of God is at hand.'" Mt 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you who are weary and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon your shoulders and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for My yoke is easy and My burden light." Lk 6:36: "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate." Jn 19:28 "I am thirsty." Rom 10:12b-15b All have the same Lord, rich in mercy towards all who call upon Him. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe unless they have heard of Him? And how can they hear unless there is someone to preach? And how can men preach unless they are sent? Lk 15:32 Prodigal Son - "But we had to celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost, and is found." My daughter, speak to priests about this inconceivable mercy of Mine. The flames of mercy are burning Me - clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don't want to believe in My goodness (Diary, 177). Key Words: • Priests themselves need to know the Lord's mercy and trust Him. Jn 13:1 He loved His own in this world, and would show His love for them to the end [utmost]. Jn 15:13 "There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." Jn 15:15 "... I call you friends since I have made known to you all that I heard from My Father." No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy, and this is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, priests are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy. I am making you the administrator of My mercy. Tell the confessor that the image is to be on view in the church and not within the enclosure in that convent. By means of this image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let everyone have access to it (Diary, 570). Key Words: • Souls need mercy for salvation. • The Feast of Mercy is a day of forgiveness and atonement. • Priests are to tell everyone of the Lord's great mercy. • The image of The Divine Mercy (Jesus with His hand raised in blessing) is a vessel of grace. Gal 2:20b [He] loved me and gave Himself for me. 2 Cor 5:14-15 The love of Christ impels us who have reached the conviction that since one died for all, all died. He died for all so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who for their sake died and was raised up. Jn 20:19-23 On the evening of that first day of the week, even though the disciples had locked the doors of the place where they were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood before them. "Peace be with you," He said. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and side. At the sight of the Lord the disciples rejoiced. "Peace be with you," He said again. "As the Father has sent Me, so I send you." Then He breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are bound." Sir 50:14-21 (Simon, the high priest, on the day of atonement:) Once he had completed the services at the altar with the arranging of the sacrifices for the Most High, and had stretched forth his hand for the cup, to offer blood of the grape, and poured it out at the foot of the altar ... The sons of Aaron would sound a blast ... as a reminder before the Most High. Then all the people with one accord would quickly fall prostrate to the ground in adoration before the Most High, before the Holy One of Israel. ... All the people of the land would shout for joy, praying to the Merciful One. ... Then coming down he [the high priest] would raise his hands over the congregation of Israel. The blessing of the Lord would be upon his lips, the name of the Lord [Yahweh] would be his glory. Then again the people would lie prostrate to receive from him the blessing of the Most High. Lk 24:50-52 Then He led them out near Bethany, and with His hands upraised, blessed them. As He blessed them, He left them, and was taken up to heaven. They fell down to do Him reverence. Acts 3:26 When God raised up His servant, He sent Him first to bless you by turning you from your evil ways. Say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he recites this chaplet only once, he will receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy (Diary, 687). Key Words: • Pray the chaplet • Recommend the chaplet to the dying to sinners • The Lord wants the whole world to know to receive to trust in - His infinite mercy • Words of the chaplet: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 1 Jn 2:2 He is an offering [atonement] for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for those of the whole world. 1 Cor 10:16 Is not the cup of blessing we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Is 6:3 "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts!" they cried one to another. "All the earth is filled with His glory!" Is 57:15 For thus says He who is high and exalted, living eternally, whose name is the Holy One: On high I dwell, and in holiness, and with the crushed and dejected in spirit, to revive the spirits of the rejected, to revive the hearts of the crushed. 1 Pt 2:5 You too are living stones, built as an edifice of spirit, into a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Heb 13:15-16 Through Him let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which acknowledge His name. Do not neglect good deeds and generosity: God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind. Heb 13:20-21 May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus Christ our Lord, furnish you with all that is good, that you may do His will. Heb 4:16 So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and favor and find help in time of need. Mt 5:7 "Blest are they that show mercy; mercy shall be theirs." Mt 6:33 "Seek first His kingship over you, His way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides." Lk 12:32-34 "Do not live in fear, little flock. It has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. ... Wherever your treasure lies, there your heart will be." Eph 2:4-5 God is rich in mercy; because of His great love for us He brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin. 2 Cor 1:3-4 Praised be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consola tion! He comforts us in all our afflictions and thus enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from Him. 2 Cor 1:9-11 We were left to feel like men condemned to death so that we might trust, not in ourselves, but in God who raised the dead. He rescued us from the danger of death and will continue to do so. We have put our hope in Him who will never cease to deliver us. But you must help us with your prayers, so that on our behalf God may be thanked for the gifts granted us through the prayers of so many. Rom 11:32-36 God has imprisoned all in disobedience that He might have mercy on all. How deep are the riches and the wisdom of God! How inscrutable His judgments, how unsearchable His ways! For "who has been His counselor? Who has given Him anything so as to deserve return?" For from Him and for Him all things are. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Tell My priests that hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words, when they speak about My unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart. To priests who will proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power, and I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak (Diary, 1521). Key Words: • Glorify the Lord's mercy • Proclaim His mercy • Wondrous power will be given • Hearts will be opened Mk 6:12-13 With that they went off, preaching the need of repentance. They expelled many demons, anointed the sick with oil, and worked many cures. Jn 14:12 "I solemnly assure you, the man who has faith in Me will do the works I do and greater than these." Acts 2:37-38 When they heard this, they were deeply shaken. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "What are we to do brothers?" Peter answered: "You must reform and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that your sins may be forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 3:6-8 Then Peter said: "I have neither silver nor gold but what I have I give you! In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazorean, walk!" Then Peter took him by the right hand and pulled him up. Immediately the begger's feet and ankles became strong; he jumped up, stood up for a moment, then began to walk around. He went into the temple with them - walking, jumping about, and giving praise to God. A vision of the Mother of God. In the midst of a great brilliance, I saw the Mother of God clothed in a white gown, girt about with a golden cincture; and there were tiny stars, also of gold, over the whole garment, and chevron-shaped sleeves lined with gold. Her cloak was sky-blue, lightly thrown over the shoulders. A transpar- ent veil was delicately drawn over her head, while her flowing hair was set off beautifully by a golden crown which terminated in little crosses. On her left arm she held the Child Jesus. A Blessed Mother of this type I had not yet seen. Then she looked at me kindly and said, I am the Mother of God of Priests. At that, she lowered Jesus from her arm to the ground, raised Her right hand heavenward and said: "O God, bless Poland, bless priests. Then she addressed me once again: Tell the priests what you have seen. I resolved that at the very first opportunity [I would have] of seeing Father [Andrasz] I would tell; but I myself can make nothing of this vision (Diary, 1585). Key Words: • Mary is Mother of God and our mother • Be witnesses of what you have seen Jn 19:26-27 Seeing His mother there with the disciple whom He loved, Jesus said to His mother, "Woman, there is your son." In turn He said to His disciple, "There is your mother." From that hour onward, the disciple took her into his care. Jn 19:34 One of the soldiers thrust a lance into His side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. This testimony has been given by an eye witness, and his testimony is true. He tells what he knows is true, so that you may believe. Lk 1:49-50 "God who is mighty has done great things for me, holy is His name; His mercy is from age to age on those who fear Him." Acts 1:14 Together they devoted themselves to constant prayer. There were some women in their company, and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers. In regard to the stars on our Lady's robe and her royal dignity, consider these passages: Dn 12:3 But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to jus tice shall be like the stars forever. Ps 45:10 The queen stands at your right hand arrayed in cloth of gold (Feast of the Queenship of Mary. Entrance Antiphon). As we reflect on the relationship between the Gospel and Divine Mercy, we close with this amazing, power-packed statement of Pope Benedict XVI from his Regina Caeli message on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2008: Indeed, mercy is the central nucleus of the Gospel message; it is the very name of God, the Face with which he revealed himself in the Old Covenant and fully in Jesus Christ, the incarnation of creative and redemptive Love. May this merciful love also shine on the face of the Church and show itself through the sacraments, in particular that of Reconciliation, and in works of charity, both communitarian and individual. May all that the Church says and does manifest the mercy God feels for man, and therefore for us. When the Church has to recall and unrecog- nized truth or a betrayed good, she always does so impelled by merciful love, so that men and women may have life and have it abundantly (cf. Jn 10:10). From Divine Mercy, which brings peace to hearts, genuine peace flows into the world, peace between different peoples, cultures and religions.

Jesus in his Olivet Discourse was talking to his present generation

“Clearly the “you” highlighted in all these verses is the disciples. Jesus was not talking to us here or any other future generation. He is clearly speaking to his disciples about events that were to occur in their lifetime, not events that would occur 2000 years (or more!) later”. Justin Taken from: https://thespiritsearches.com/this-generation-will-not-pass-away-until-all-these-things-take-place/#more-539 In regards to the Olivet Discourse, few verses have sparked more controversy than Matthew 24:34. Here Jesus states: “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (ESV). But given the context of the preceding verses (i.e., wars, famines, earthquakes, persecutions, increased lawlessness, signs in heaven, etc.) how can this be? After all, these are the signs of the end, right? And if we were to interpret this verse literally then we would have to conclude that “this generation” refers to the one to whom Jesus was speaking to, that is, his contemporaries. And that they would be the generation to witness “all these things” – “all these things” being everything Jesus had mentioned up to that point. But if what Jesus was speaking about referred to signs that would precede the end of the world, how could this be? Surely there are none from that generation alive today to witness the end. To assume so would be absurd. So what exactly did Jesus mean by “this generation”? Who was he talking about? And what about “all these things” that he said would occur before “this generation” passed away? The truth is, I’ve already answered the question. “This generation” refers to the one whom Jesus was speaking to, that is, his contemporaries. It was they who were to witness “all these things” that he had spoken about previously. Consequently, “this generation” is not in reference to a specific race (the Jews), a type of people (righteous or wicked), or a future generation to come. Neither do the signs and events spoken of by Jesus (which he summarizes as “all these things”) serve as nearness indicators of any eschatological event in our future including the Rapture, the Second Coming, the end times, or even the end of the world itself. This explanation, although contrary to the one most commonly employed when explaining the Olivet Discourse, is not without significant evidence to support it. In this article I’ll present the case for the preteristic view of Matthew 24:34 and hopefully help shed some light on such a controversial verse in Scripture. Lets start by defining the term “generation”. The Meaning of “This Generation” The definition of generation according to the Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition is: a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously. Not surprisingly, the Greek word used for “generation” in Matthew 24:34 is “genea” which refers to the whole multitude of men living at the same time. It is true that “genea” can sometimes be used in reference to a nation or race but “of the 38 appearances of ‘genea’ apart from Luke 21:32 / Matthew 24:34 / Mark 13:30, all have the temporal meaning, primarily that of contemporaries” (A.J. Mattill Jr. – Luke and the Last Things) The fact that Jesus used the word “genea” in conjunction with the near demonstrative “this” (this generation) clearly indicates that it was his contemporaries who would see “all these things”. Other instances of Jesus using “genea” to refer to his contemporaries include: • Matthew 11:16 – To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others • Matthew 12:41 – The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it • Matthew 12:42 – The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it • Matthew 12:45 – So will it be with this wicked generation • Matthew 23:36 – Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation In each of these verses (although there are many more) we easily understand that Jesus was referring to those living during his time. Why then at Matthew 24:34 do we attempt to force the word to mean something it most often doesn’t instead of allowing for its most natural use? Throughout the Gospels “genea” is the word Jesus uses to refer to his contemporaries. To assert that he now uses the word to refer to a nation, race, type of people, or a future generation is more than highly unlikely. Its [sic] essentially impossible given the context in which he’s speaking and the audience to whom he’s speaking to. Which brings us to the next two points: who was Jesus speaking to and what was Jesus talking about? Who Was Jesus Speaking To? Matthew 24:3 tells us that Jesus was speaking to his disciples, privately, on the Mount of Olives during the Olivet Discourse. More specifically, we know these disciples to have been Peter, James, John, and Andrew according to Mark 13:3. Why is it important that we know this? Because without identifying the original audience of the Olivet Discourse (or any written work for that matter) it becomes nearly impossible to interpret it accurately. If we don’t know to, or for whom something was written, then any potential reader may assume the work was written for them, thus taking it out of context. Such has been the case with the Olivet Discourse and the many colorful interpretations given in an attempt to explain it. Lets [sic] take a look at some verses within the Olivet Discourse that help remove any doubt as to who Jesus was speaking to, and therefore, who would witness “all these things”. • v.4 – And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray • v.6 – And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed • v.9 – Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake’ • v.15 – So when you see the abomination of desolation • v.23 – Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it • v.25 – See, I have told you beforehand • v.26 – So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out • v. 32-33 – From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates • v. 34 – Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place Clearly the “you” highlighted in all these verses is the disciples. Jesus was not talking to us here or any other future generation. He is clearly speaking to his disciples about events that were to occur in their lifetime, not events that would occur 2000 years (or more!) later. So for us to properly understand who “this generation” is, we have to understand how the disciples would have understood Jesus’s words. Can it be realistically assumed that when Jesus told the disciples that “they will deliver you up to persecution and death and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake” that they would have understood him to mean somebody other than themselves? Or can it be realistically assumed that when Jesus told them “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” that they understood him to mean some other generation than the one then in existence? In both cases the answer is no. Jesus was perfectly clear in his announcement of which generation would experience “all these things”. Think about it. What else could Jesus have said to clarify of whom he was speaking? And from the disciples perspective, why would any further clarification be needed? He was speaking to them in response to their questions concerning the destruction of the Temple (more on this to come). No doubt they would have rightly understood everything Jesus spoke of as pertaining to them. They had no reason to think that what Jesus said pertained to any other generation other than their own or that he was referring to events that were to occur thousands of years in the future. To them, no clarification was needed. They knew they were the ones, and theirs the generation, to witness “all these things”. Unfortunately, faulty interpretations run rampant in regards to the Olivet Discourse, and specifically in relation to “this generation”. …. Summarizing “This Generation” Only through much manipulation can one come to interpret “this generation” as meaning anything other than “this generation”, that is, the one alive during Jesus’s day. All three Gospel accounts of the Olivet Discourse concur and allow no deviation in the interpretation of Jesus’s words here, whereas other verses of the Olivet Discourse vary slightly. For example, Matthew 24:15 says: “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains“, whereas Lukes account (21:20-21) says: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains”. The wording used by each writer is obviously different, although both are referring to the same event. However, in all three of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) the writers use the same exact phrase (essentially verbatim) at this point in their record of Jesus’s words, suggesting that there was no room for interpretative differences nor any need to reword what Jesus said for clarification purposes. • Matthew 24:34 – Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. • Mark 13:30 – Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. • Luke 21:32 – Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ________________________________________ …. Throughout the rest of this article we’re going to discuss what the Olivet Discourse was actually about. We’ll discover what prompted Jesus to have this discussion in the first place, and we’ll look at the text leading up to the verse in question. This will not be a verse by verse commentary, but rather a general overview highlighting specific texts that are vital to understanding who “this generation” was and what “all these things” actually refer to. What Was the Olivet Discourse Actually About? In order to fully understand who “this generation” was and what “all these things” refers to, we have to understand what the Olivet Discourse was about to begin with. To interpret a verse of Scripture without first understanding the context in which its written almost always leads to a faulty interpretation. Such is the case with the modern futurist approach to the Olivet Discourse which says “this generation” refers to a future generation and they will be the ones who witness “all these things”. …. In short, however, the Olivet Discourse is about the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the city of Jerusalem itself, both of which occurred in the Jewish War between AD 67-70. Within 40 years of Jesus giving these prediction [sic] on the Mount of Olives, the events he spoke of came to pass. Truly “this generation” to whom Jesus was speaking witnessed “all these things” he spoke of during his discourse. …. Leading up to the Olivet Discourse In Matthew 23 we read of Jesus’s scathing indictment against the religious leaders of his day. In his unrelenting assault Jesus proclaims them to be “full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (v.28), and like “whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead peoples bones and all uncleanness” (v.27). He goes on to point out that they are the “sons of those who murdered the prophets” and tells them to “fill up then the measure of your fathers” (v.31-32). He goes on to tell them how he will send them “prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town” (v.34). Notice here the similarity between what Jesus says the religious leaders will do to those whom he sends and what he tells his disciples will happen to them in the next chapter (Matthew 24:9-12). He then says, “so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth…Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:35-36). Sound familiar? Here we see Jesus pronouncing judgement upon that generation, holding them responsible for “all the righteous blood shed on earth”. Why? Because he knew that they were going to be the ones to kill him, the Messiah. There could be no blood more righteous than his, and his murder at their hands would serve as the final nail in the coffin leading up to their judgement. In murdering their own Messiah, they would truly “fill up the measure of their fathers”. Jesus then laments over Jerusalem, for he knows how devastating its destruction will be. He then says, “See, your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), in reference to the Temples pending destruction. Here Jesus borrows language from the Old Testament. Daniel 9:17 says, “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate”. …. Jesus Departs the Temple and Predicts its Destruction The Olivet Discourse begins with Jesus’s departure from the Temple followed by the disciples pointing out to him how beautiful it was. Luke’s account says that “some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings” (Luke21:5). Mark’s account records the disciples as a bit more enthusiastic in their observation: “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” (Mark 13:1). This enthusiasm, however, is short lived as Jesus’s response is far from comforting concerning their beloved Temple. He says, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). From here, Jesus departs to the Mount of Olives where his disciples come to him privately and ask for more details concerning what he had just said. Matthews account reads as follows: “As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). These questions are in response to what Jesus said about the Temple being destroyed. Consequently, his reply is in response to those questions. Everything Jesus says from this point forward is in response to the disciples questions about when the Temple will be destroyed and the signs which are to precede its destruction (See Mark 13:4 and Luke 21:7). This is how we know that the Olivet Discourse is not about the end of the world. Nor are the signs and events it describes to be witnessed by any other generation than the one alive at the time of Jesus’s prophecy. ….

A deeper meaning in Pilate’s message nailed on the Cross?

“Yes, we know that the chief priests did not want to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as the King of the Jews, but there may have been something much deeper that alarmed and stirred them to even greater concern”. Shari Abbott Taken from: https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/pilate-proclaimed-jesus-god/ Did Pilate Proclaim Jesus to be God? A Remez on the Cross by Shari Abbott, Reasons for Hope* Jesus …. There was a message nailed to the cross of Jesus. It’s not easily seen, but it’s there. What did Pilate write? He wrote more than what you know. Did Pilate intentionally write the message and have it nailed to the cross? Of course, we know what’s really important. Nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ was every sin we have committed, or ever will commit. Jesus took upon Himself our sins and paid for them with His blood, opening the way of salvation for all who come to Him in faith. But there is also another message, nailed to that cross. It was written on a piece of wood, placed above the head of the Lamb of God, and it proclaimed Jesus not only to be The King of the Jews but also to be the Great I Am. A Hidden Message Written in Wood This message is a remez. A remez, in Jewish hermeneutics (the study of Scripture), is the hint of a hidden message or a deeper meaning. It’s something “below the surface” or “behind the words” that reveals another message or a deeper understanding. We find a remez in the piece of wood that Pilate commanded to be nailed to the cross of Jesus. It’s really amazing what Pilate commanded to be written on it. The Scripture tells us that Pilate asked Jesus the question, “Art thou the King of the Jews?” We are also told that Jesus confirmed Pilate’s words with, “Thou sayest it.” (Luke 23:3) Next, we are told that Pilate offered to release one of the prisoners to the people and he used the title “The King of the Jews” in referring to Jesus: John 18:39 “But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” The Jews did not accept this offer, but instead cried out, “Crucify Him” (Luke 23:21). So Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified. The Titlon It was customary for the Romans to put a sign on each cross. This sign labeled the person being crucified with the crime for which they had been charged. The sign was called a titlon and it was an official announcement from the presiding government official. Pilate wrote the inscription and had it nailed to the top of the cross of Jesus. John 19:19 Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This greatly angered the chief priests of the Jews, who demanded of Pilate…. John 19:21 …“Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.”‘ Pilate responded with, John 19:22 “What I have written I have written.” In the Greek, Pilate answered the chief priest using the perfect tense, which is understood to mean, “What I have written will always remain written.” And so it has remained written–not only on the cross that day but throughout the pages of history from that time forth. What Made The Chief Priests So Angry? Here’s where we find the remez or hidden message. Yes, we know that the chief priests did not want to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as the King of the Jews, but there may have been something much deeper that alarmed and stirred them to even greater concern. The following information is something I learned from the Bible study teachings of Chuck Missler (1934-2018). I present it for your consideration and I encourage you to search the Scripture to see if this be so (Chuck Missler would have said to do the same). It’s very interesting and has merit. There’s definitely a message, but whether Pilate intended it to be so we do not know. We also do not know if this roused the anger of the chief priests, but there is reason to believe they would have seen the message on the titlon and understood what it proclaimed. An Epitaph Above Jesus’ Head Pilate may not have understood what he was doing when he gave instructions for the words to be inscribed on the titlon placed above Jesus’ head. He required that the words, Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews, be written in all three languages of the day. Hebrew was the native language of the people of Jerusalem, the land in which Jesus was being crucified. Greek was the common language used during that time. And Latin was the official language of the governing power of the day, Rome. John 19:19-20 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The remez is found in understanding the inscription written in Hebrew. Remember that the Hebrew language is written from right to left, so it would have read: The message is found in the acrostic that is formed by these words. An acrostic is a form of writing in which the first letters of each word, line or paragraph are strung together to spell a word or message (we call this an acronym). Acrostics are found throughout Hebrew writings, including in the books of Lamentations, Esther, Leviticus, Proverbs 31, and numerous psalms—most notably the longest psalm, Psalm 119, which is divided into subsections with each section beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The acrostic formed by the first letters of each word in the inscription on the titlon (reading right to left) is YHVH. Therefore, above Jesus’ head, written in an acrostic, was revealed “YHVH,” which is Yahweh or Jehovah. This is the covenant name of God, given to His people. It is also known as the Tetragrammaton, the unpronounceable name of God, and the Great I Am. (image: khouse.org) Who knew? Did Pilate know what he was writing? We have no way of knowing for certain, but had Pilate written these words in any other sequence or with additional or fewer words, it would not have revealed the same message. Did the Jews know what Pilate had written? We do have good reasoning to suspect so, because Jews of that time understood and recognized acrostics from their common use in so many of their writings. Did the chief priests and Pharisees know that Jesus was God? Again, we don’t know for certain, but there is reasoning to think they did. We know that they felt threatened by Jesus and they took seriously the threat that Jesus’ committed followers would pose to their system of religion. This is clear when the chief priests and Pharisees requested that the tomb be secured and gave reason that Jesus had said He would rise again from the dead (Matthew 27:62-64). They expressed concern that His body might be stolen by His followers. Pilate agreed to their request to secure the tomb, and he did so by “sealing the stone and setting a watch” (Matthew 27:65-66). In doing so, Pilate provided further evidence of the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. No human man could have moved that stone, nor escaped past those guards. Jesus, The Nazarene, The King of The Jews = Yahweh It’s fun to find a remez. It’s the revealing of a deeper mystery that gives us one more reason to rejoice in the Lord and all that He has revealed in His Word. It is a reminder of the divine nature of inspiration on every page of the Bible and that, in His Word, God has revealed to us all that we need to trust in Him in all things. ….

Human person is a true ‘cosmos in miniature’ – Wolfgang Smith

“Smith contends that, in the final count, Einsteinian relativity is founded on ideological grounds, not empirical ones”. John Trevor Berger Wolfgang Smith died on 19th July, 2024 (RIP) Surveying the Integral Cosmos: A Review of ‘Physics & Vertical Causation’ 29 August 2023 Book Review, Philosophy of Physics, Wolfgang Smith John Trevor Berger According to the experts of standard cosmology, we live in a universe which is uniformly egalitarian, a homogeneous mass of subatomic particles. And this purported ‘cosmological principle’, we are told, holds from the furthest observable (and unobservable) reaches of the universe, to the ordinary moment of lived experience. The problem is that this world-picture completely contradicts what seems to be manifest to us, self-evidently, by our five senses as well as our shared, ‘common’ sense of things. If what the experts are telling us is true, then we really are living in an illusion—and many of them have no qualms about telling us just that. For the better part of four decades, Wolfgang Smith has been gradually chipping away at this impasse, and his project breaks new ground in Physics and Vertical Causation: The End of Quantum Reality. First published by Angelico Press in 2019—and now available exclusively from the Philos-Sophia Initiative—the book is an indispensable companion to the Initiative’s feature documentary on the life and work of Prof. Smith, released in 2020, The End of Quantum Reality. It is also the true sequel to his paradigm-shifting 1995 monograph, The Quantum Enigma: Finding the Hidden Key—now also available from the Philos-Sophia Initiative. Physics and Vertical Causation (PVC) picks up just where The Quantum Enigma (TQE) left off: namely, the discovery of ‘vertical causality’ (VC). Yet while TQE was primarily restricted to VC’s relevance to the resolution of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics, PVC probes widely and deeply into the presence of VC throughout the cosmos en masse—not to mention the ‘microcosm’, man himself. Indeed, while it may not be readily apparent by the book’s title, the work is, fundamentally, a study in cosmology; the title simply indicates whence cosmology must, in our time, take its point of departure. For if, as Smith maintains, physics is the foundational science—and quantum mechanics “physics come into its own”—then our entire view of the cosmos is necessarily affected by how we interpret quantum theory. One should take special note, incidentally, that the author’s decades-long project reaches its summit in his last work, Physics: A Science in Quest of an Ontology (soon to be re-released in a second, Revised and Expanded edition). And these three books—The Quantum Enigma, Physics and Vertical Causation, and Physics: A Science in Quest of an Ontology, in this order—form a kind of ‘trilogy’, each one building upon the breakthroughs of the previous: a journey from the bare bones of quantum physics to a full-fledged renascence of Neoplatonist cosmology, wherein one finally sees how physics generally, and quantum mechanics specifically, fits into an ordered cosmological hierarchy.1 * * * Devoted readers of Wolfgang Smith know only too well the great care he takes—in the formulation of his position on a given issue—to articulate his ontological distinction between the ‘physical’ and the ‘corporeal’: to the world “as conceived by the physicist,” versus the world as originarily manifest to sensory perception. In PVC, he takes a great stride forward by the introduction of his etiological distinction between ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ causation. But since the etiological distinction hinges upon the ontological, let’s first take a look at the latter. Owing in large part to his tremendous philosophical prowess—a rarity among contemporary scientists—when first confronted with the quantum reality problem, Smith saw something to which other theoretical physicists seem to be completely myopic: the conundrums and ‘paradoxes’ of quantum theory never stemmed from the side of physics in the first place. Rather, the origin lay in a deeply sedimented philosophical presupposition—one postulated by the likes of Galileo Galilei and John Locke, but most closely associated with René Descartes. Cartesian ‘bifurcation’—a term coined by Alfred North Whitehead, which Wolfgang Smith has put to good use throughout his authorial career—constitutes a dichotomy which divides the world into two substances, namely Thought (res cogitans) and Extension (res extensa). This gives rise to the belief that the ‘objective’ world can be wholly described in quantitative terms. In light of Smith’s ontological distinction, this is tantamount to the reduction of the corporeal to the physical. Therefore, qualitative attributes—such as color, sound, or taste—are taken, in the Cartesian paradigm, to be mental or subjective. On the other hand, the quantitative attributes—the ‘extended’ (i.e., measurable) aspects—of the world are taken to be the ‘really real’. Quantities are thought to have ontological priority over qualities, insofar as the latter are merely ‘in our heads’ (res cogitantes). What is left in the external world, then, are objects which can be accounted for, without residue, in mathematical terms (res extensae). Smith’s philosophy of physics rests squarely upon the rejection of bifurcation, and indeed he has demonstrated that quantum paradox is itself a byproduct of the Cartesian partition. It is this unexamined assumption which underlies and, in a way, defines what is commonly reckoned as the ‘scientific outlook’, and it is precisely this—not, that is to say, some remaining ‘incompleteness’ in quantum mechanics—that renders the quandaries of quantum theory insoluble from a technical standpoint. Remove this epistemological fallacy, however, and foundational physics starts to make sense. Nor is anything scientific sacrificed in so doing: what is rejected, rather, is a false philosophical dichotomy. The physicist, then, is not, in the strict sense, dealing with the corporeal world—that world in which we find ourselves via cognitive sense perception—but with a subcorporeal domain: one which has been discovered, and to a certain degree ‘constructed’, by the interventions of the physical scientist. And these procedures are what brings into the sphere of observation what the author identifies as the physical universe—the world, once again, “as conceived by the physicist.” Now the ontological distinction, as mentioned above, necessarily entails a complementary etiological distinction. For if there are these ‘strata’ in the order of being—these two different ‘worlds’ so to speak, the corporeal and the physical—then there must be some mode of causation which is capable of traversing between the two, on pain of not being able to conduct the business of physics to begin with. And this defines a causality which is unknown to modern physics: a causal mode that is not field-based, but acts instantaneously—‘above time’ as it were. Hence we have a distinction between horizontal and vertical causation. Horizontal causation may be generally thought of as ‘physical’—the well known relation of ‘cause-&-effect’ operating in space and time—whereas vertical causation is supra-spatiotemporal. The author has thus identified a causal mode whose field of action vastly exceeds that of physical causation. And the central objective of PVC is to bring out the immense scientific, cosmological, and philosophical implications of this discovery. * * * Although first recognized within the context of resolving the quantum measurement problem, Smith found that VC is ubiquitous; its effects come into view on all sides, even from the strictly operational viewpoint of the physicist. It makes sense of the fact, for instance, that corporeal objects do not ‘multilocate’; or that cats cannot be, at once, dead and alive. The intelligibility and stability of form that we find in the corporeal world owes precisely to VC. Smith also shows how VC demystifies J. S. Bell’s celebrated interconnectedness theorem: the phenomena of ‘nonlocal’ interactions become perfectly intelligible once we see that there can in fact be cause-to-effect relations which do not involve a transfer of energy through space. It is worth pointing out, in this connection, that the ‘instantaneity’ of VC is truly atemporal—not just ‘super-fast’. PVC argues as well for the crucial role that VC plays in biology, which for nearly two centuries has been basically reduced to physics, for no better reason than that the Cartesian axiom necessitates such a reduction; res extensae are, after all, governed by horizontal causation alone. Smith demonstrates the invalidity of said reduction, specifically, in arguing that a physicalist biology—by virtue of its inability to recognize vertical effects—is, in principle, incapable of comprehending the physiology of a living organism. In other words, a physiology based upon the contemporary paradigm is able to comprehend an organism only to the extent that it is inorganic! Finally, as he ascends to the anthropic level, the author explains how VC accounts for man’s ability to produce ‘complex specified information’ (CSI). Indeed, it follows upon the strength of William Dembski’s 1998 theorem that CSI cannot be produced by means of horizontal causality: our very ability to generate CSI—or, if you prefer, intelligible forms—necessitates the existence of VC. * * * What is perhaps the most astonishing about PVC—especially to those unfamiliar with premodern thought—is Wolfgang Smith’s analysis and appropriation of what he terms the ‘tripartite cosmos’, manifested, in its respective ways, in both the macrocosm (the world) and the microcosm (the human person). His analysis of the ‘cosmic icon’2 gives us a concise symbolic depiction which effectively encapsulates the cosmic tripartition. The book’s magisterial final chapter, “Pondering the Cosmic Icon,” brings into full view this fecund symbol—to which the author has referred in previous works as a kind of primordial archetype whose presence reverberates throughout traditional cultures—and we find in following Smith’s decoding of the icon the rediscovery of an integral cosmos. But the author really breathes new life into the cosmic icon, and what it depicts, insofar as his reflections on the import of modern physics play an important role in his definitions. First basing himself upon traditional sources, Smith posits that the cosmos consists of three tiers or domains: the corporeal, the intermediary, and the spiritual.3 What makes Smith’s account of the cosmic tripartition unique is that he differentiates these three domains vis-à-vis their spatio-temporal ‘bounds’. That is to say, whereas the corporeal world is bound by the conditions of space and time, the intermediary is bound by time alone, while the spiritual is bound by neither space nor time. One should note well here that the corporeal domain—the sensorily perceived world in its entirety—is actually the lowest stratum of the cosmic hierarchy. From the latter it follows that the physical, or ‘subcorporeal’, is technically ‘below the bottom’ of cosmic reality; hence the author’s characterization of physical objects as ‘sub-existential’. The architecture of this trichotomy, then, is accompanied by the realization that our vaunted differential equations simply do not apply above the corporeal plane, for the simple reason that said equations presuppose the bounds of space and time. Whereas VC acts from the highest reaches of the ontological hierarchy, physics—by virtue of its modus operandi—is restricted, once again, to the ‘lower third’ of the tripartite cosmos. As for man himself: the microcosm is constituted by the tripartition of body (corpus or soma), soul (anima or psyche), and spirit (spiritus or pneuma). Inasmuch as the human person is a true ‘cosmos in miniature’, whatever can be said of the macrocosm is echoed in the microcosm. For instance, while the body is bound by space and time, the soul is bound by time alone, and the spirit by neither space nor time. But it’s crucial to remember that, just as the macrocosm is one, integral being—whose tiers are distinguishable, but not separated, by particular bounds—so the human person is one, integral being. Neither macrocosm nor microcosm is ‘three beings’, but rather one being with three ‘levels’. The cosmic icon, in any case, depicts human nature as well as the cosmos at large. * * * What is also new in PVC—and which will no doubt come to the surprise (and consternation) of many—is Prof. Smith’s final and decisive break with the physics of Albert Einstein.4 While in previous decades Smith suggested that while the theory of relativity may well pertain to the physical universe, it does not, strictly speaking, pertain to the corporeal world. PVC, however, tells a new tale. Smith now lays it down categorically that, even on purely physical grounds, Einsteinian relativity is a no-go. And it turns out that relativity falls on shockingly simple theoretical grounds. The author also provides a brief exposé on several little-publicized falsifications of relativity on empirical grounds. Upon analysis of the basic premises of Einstein’s original 1905 paper on special relativity, Smith finds that Einstein’s Principle of Relativity is based upon little more than the fact that it offers a reason why the Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887 failed to detect any orbital velocity of Earth. That the principle of relativity preserves the Copernican cosmological principle may explain why—even in spite of adverse empirical findings from Einstein’s time to the present day—the theory remains sacrosanct by the physics establishment. Intriguingly, we also learn that the renowned formula E = mc²—perhaps the most celebrated ‘proof’ of Einstein’s theory—is derivable from classical electrodynamics. Smith contends that, in the final count, Einsteinian relativity is founded on ideological grounds, not empirical ones. …. https://philos-sophia.org/surveying-integral-cosmos/