The Just Man!

Discipleship Questions for

Sunday March 23, 2008

Scripture Readings

First Reading: Exodus 14:10-14,21-25

Psalm Reading: Psalm: 118

Second Reading: Colossians 3:1-4

Gospel: John 20:1-10

Exodus 14:10-14,21-25
¹⁰And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. ¹¹Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ¹²Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." ¹³And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. ¹⁴The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." ²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. ²²So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. ²⁵And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians." -- NKJV

Psalm 118:14-29
¹⁴The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.

¹⁵The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; 
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.

¹⁶The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.

¹⁷I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.

¹⁸The LORD has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death. 

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, 
And I will praise the LORD.

²⁰This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. 

²¹I will praise You, For You have answered me, 
And have become my salvation. 

²²The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

²³This was the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. 

²⁵Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

²⁷God is the LORD, And He has given us light; 
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

²⁸You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. 

²⁹Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
-- NKJV

Colossians 3:1-4
¹If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ²Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. -- NKJV

John 20:1-10(11-18)
¹Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ²Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." ³Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. ⁴So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. (¹¹But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. ¹²And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." ¹⁴Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." ¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. ) -- NKJV

Discipleship Questions:

1. Easter means – everlasting life! Jesus said He was going to come back to life and He did! Since He did what He said He would do we can probably assume that whatever else He said was probably right also. Please discuss what it means to follow Christ and to have the gift of eternal life?
2. Death is no longer our enemy! Please discuss what this means to you.
3. Please read the following notes from my Homily and discuss: Jesus showed us who we really are!

To be made in the image and likeness of God is to love!

And to love is to give all to the other!

Jesus connected being with action!

Think about what I just said for a moment please . . . . . .

Our being is made in the image of God but our actions are all too often a denial of that fundamental reality.

St. Paul spoke about this basic break between our intentions and our actions when he wrote: Rom. 7:18

“I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. . . . 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

This is our fundamental dilemma but “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

For He found “The Way” – the way of love – a love that we were originally made for!

Jesus IS the way!

In His very being He unified intention and action!

The Latin for this is “Agere sequitur Esse”

To act follows to be!

To act follows being!

We are what we are and we act out of this center!

Being precedes doing!

And when the two become one you have “deus” – the devine!

The ultimate goal for us “in Christ” is the “Homo Justus” – the just person where being and action become ONE!

No more duplicity!

4. Please read the following and discuss: When Jesus is IN US THEN and only THEN we become truly who and what we were made to be!

St. Paul then reminds us:

Col. 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Did you hear that – we have been raised with Christ!

Easter is about our coming to ourselves in Christ!

To be raised WITH HIM!

Ah! The meaning of our Baptism!

To die and then to rise “With Christ!”

This is a fundamental “being” as it were “a Chemistry” question

It’s Christ in us that changes the chemistry of our being, as it were, in such a way that we’re now able to become who and what we were made for!

It is in Jesus that our imago Dei is fully restored!

And now the rest of our lives is about entering into our Christlikeness!