I would like to invite friends and family to join me for a guided reflection on the birth narratives of Jesus of Nazareth via Zoom on Thursday, December 2nd at 7:00-8:30 pm Central Time.
Dear friend, since I cannot embrace you in person, please allow me to share some words from the Apostle Paul and a poem by St Ephrem that reminds me of the hope we share in Christ. – Jonathan
“Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58
Hymns of the Resurrection, No. 1 Saint Ephrem the Syrian
The Lamb has come for us from the House of David, The Priest and Pontiff from Abraham; He became for us both Lamb and Pontiff, giving His body for sacrifice, His blood for sprinkling.[1] Blessed in His accomplishment!
Refrain: Blessed is Your rising!
The Shepherd of all flew down in search of Adam, the sheep that had strayed; on His shoulders He carried him[2] taking him up: he was an offering for the Lord of the flock. Blessed in His descent!
He sprinkled dew and life-giving rain on Mary, the thirsty earth.[3] Like a seed of wheat He fell again to Sheol, to spring up as a whole sheaf,[4] as the new Bread.[5] Blessed is His offering!
Knowledge of Him chased error away from mankind who had become lost; the Evil One was led astray by Him and was confounded. Knowledge of Him poured out all kinds of wisdom upon the nations. Blessed in His fountain!
From on high did Power descend to us, from a womb did Hope shine out for us, from the grave Salvation appeared for us, and on the right hand the King sits for us. Blessed in His glory!
From on high He flowed like a river, from Mary He stemmed as from a root,[6] from the cross He descended as fruit, as the first-fruit He ascended to heaven.[7] Blessed in His will!
The Word came forth from the Father’s bosom, He put on the body in another bosom; from one bosom to another did He proceed, and chaste bosoms are filled with Him. Blessed is He who dwells within us!
From on high He came down as Lord, from the womb He came forth as a servant. Death knelt before Him in Sheol, and Life worshipped Him in His resurrection. Blessed in His victory!
Mary carried Him as a child, the priest carried Him as an offering,[8] the cross carried Him as one slain, heaven carried Him as God. Praise to His Father!
From every side He stretched out and gave healing and promises: children ran to His healings, the discerning rain to His promises. Blessed in His appearance!
From the fish’s mouth He gave a coin[9] whose imprint was temporal, whose currency passing;[10] from His own mouth He gave a new imprint, giving us the new covenant. Blessed is its giver!
From God is His godhead, from mortals His manhood, from Melkizedek His priesthood,[11] from David’s line His kingship. Blessed in His combining them!
He joined the gusts at the wedding-feast, He joined the fasters in the temptation, He joined the watchers in toil, He was a teaching in the sanctuary. Blessed in His instruction!
He did not shrink from the unclean, He did not turn away from sinners, in the sincere He greatly delighted, at the simple He greatly rejoiced. Blessed in His teaching!
He did not hold back His footsteps from the sick or His words from the simple; He extended His descent to the lowly, and His ascension to the highest. Blessed in His sender!
His birth gives us purification, His baptism gives us forgiveness, His death is life to us, His ascension is our exaltation. How we should thank Him!
By the greedy He was considered a glutton,[12] but by those who know, the Provider of all; by the drunk He was considered a drinker, but by the discerning, the Giver of drink to all. Blessed in His foresight!
To Caiaphas His conception was a scandal, but to Gabriel His birth was glorious; to the unbeliever His ascension is a source for suspicion, but to His disciples His exaltation is a source of wonder. Blessed in His discernment!
With His begetter His birth is certain, but to the investigator it is filled with difficulty; to supernal beings its truth is crystal clear, but to those below a subject of enquiry and hesitation – yet one which cannot be investigated!
By the Evil One He was tempted, by the Jewish people He was questioned, by Herod He was interrogated: He spurned him with silence since he wished to probe Him.[13] Blessed is His Begetter!
They thought He was one of those baptized in the Jordan, they accounted Him amongst those that sleep while at sea,[14] they hung Him like a slain man on the cross, they laid Him like a corpse in the grave. Blessed is His humiliation!
Whom have we, Lord, like You – the Great One who became small, the Wakeful who slept, the Pure One who was baptized, the Living One who died, the King who abased himself to ensure honour for all! Blessed is Your honour!
Translation by Sebastian Brock, The Harp of the Spirit: Poems of Saint Ephrem the Syrian. 3rd. ed. Cambridge: Aquila Books, UK., 2013.
Cuando leemos una novela o vemos una película, se nos hace más fácil entender la historia cuando descubrimos quién es el protagonista. Sabemos que en la mayoría de las historias hay una trama principal y luego pequeñas historias que se entrelazan con la historia principal. Cuando leemos la Biblia, es importante que sepamos reconocer cuál es la trama principal y quién es el protagonista de la historia.
La Biblia es una gran narrativa que habla de Dios. Sí, Dios es el protagonista de la Biblia. Y ¿cuál es la trama principal de la Biblia? La trama principal es la misión de Dios. ¿Cuál es su misión? Su misión es redimir todo lo que existe.
Lo genial de la Biblia es que no nos explica la vida humana y la vida de Dios a través de argumentos abstractos y difíciles de entender sino a través de muchas historias que forman parte de una gran historia.
Esta historia nos cuenta de un Dios trino, un Dios que es Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Este Dios gozaba del amor perfecto y la comunión entre sus tres personas. Tanto así, que le nació crear un mundo para poder compartir su vida. Dios, anfitrión de la creación, hizo un lugar hermosísimo para que pudiéramos vivir plenamente sobre la tierra y en comunión con Él. Nos dio todo lo que necesitábamos para vivir: comida, compañía y el árbol de la vida.
Dios visita a Abraham, Marc Chagall
Adán y Eva fueron engañados por la serpiente y decidieron tratar de realizarse al margen de Dios y de la vocación que Él les había dado: ser mayordomos generosos y compasivos con la creación y con el prójimo. A pesar de su rebeldía, Dios los buscó para seguir insistiendo en que la única manera de ser plenamente humanos y vivir su mejor vida posible, sería viviendo en comunión con Él. El resto del Antiguo Testamento habla de este baile entre Dios y su pueblo. Dios insiste con fidelidad y misericordia en la importancia de la relación mientras Israel a veces se pierde y sigue siendo rebelde.
Y un día en Palestina, llegó Dios de una manera sorpresiva. El Dios Creador del universo vino a la tierra en forma de un bebé indefenso, llamado Jesús. Tanto amó Dios al mundo que envió a Jesús para que supiéramos cuánto nos ama Dios y cuán lejos nos habíamos extraviado de Él y de su deseo para nosotros. Jesús vuelve como Rey e inaugura su reino acá en la tierra.
Jesús nos enseña a ser plenamente humanos sin descuidar la vocación que Dios nos dio luego de la creación del mundo. Nos enseñó que Él mismo es el camino, la verdad y la vida. Nos enseñó que la vida abundante, la verdadera felicidad, se encuentra en comunión con nuestro Creador. Y nos enseñó que esta comunión que nos sana y nos salva se nota en nuestro amor por el prójimo ya que nadie puede amar a Dios sin amar al prójimo. Jesús nos enseñó quién es Dios muriendo por nosotros en la cruz. Nos enseñó el poder de Dios cuando fue levantado de entre los muertos para no volver a morir jamás.
Jesús vivía, enseñaba y nos mostraba a Dios. Señalaba a Dios para que nosotros supiéramos dar testimonio de Dios, para que supiéramos continuar su ministerio acá en la tierra. Esperamos con ansias la segunda venida de Jesús cuando vendrá a juzgar a los vivos y a los muertos.
No sólo anhelamos su venida, también anhelamos juntamente con la creación nuestra redención porque Dios no se deshace de lo que se corrompe, de lo que se daña – Él lo redime, lo sana, lo salva. Por eso, no sólo esperamos nuestra salvación, pero también la salvación del mundo creado por Dios. Desde que profetizó Isaías antes del nacimiento de Jesús, esperamos los nuevos cielos y la nueva tierra – la nueva creación.
Vamos a resucitar con cuerpos glorificados, cuerpos transformados. Viviremos eternamente con Dios. De hecho, desde el día que nos bautizamos, ya comienza la vida eterna con Dios. ¡Celebremos la gran historia de Dios! ¡Seamos también parte del elenco de la historia de Dios! ¡Colaboremos con Dios en la redención de todo lo que existe!
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:4-6 RSV
Fair copy in Bach’s own hand of the Passion of St Matthew
This last year I suggested that we might accompany our Advent reflections with Handel’s Messiah. In this same vein, I would like to suggest that Bach’s Passion of St Matthew can help us to think more deeply about the the passion of our Lord Jesus.
Alan E. Lewis in his book, Between Cross & Resurrection notes that Christians pass far too quickly from the crucifixion on Friday to the resurrection on Sunday. We do not give Holy Saturday its due. I would say that most Christians today (myself included) do not spend enough time meditating on the end of Christ’s earthly life.
A slow reading of the canonical Gospels will most certainly aid us. In addition to the reading of Scriptures, the contemplation of arte sacro or liturgical music can help us meditate upon the meaning of the events that brought us salvation through the person and work of Christ.
Here is an excerpt from the Passion of St Matthew by Bach:
Der Heiland fällt vor seinem Vater nieder; Dadurch erhebt er sich und alle Von unserm Falle Hinauf zu Gottes Gnade wieder. Er ist bereit, Den Kelch, des Todes Bitterkeit Zu trinken, In welchen Sünden dieser Welt Gegossen sind und häßlich stinken, Weil es dem lieben Gott gefällt.
The Savior falls down before his father; Thereby he raises me and all people From our fall Upward to Godís grace again. He is ready The cup of death’s bitterness To drink, Wherein the sins of this world Are poured and stink odiously, Because it pleases dear God.
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” – John 11:49-50
There in the meeting of the council a pertinent answer is found to the question, “What are we to do?” Caiaphas, the High Priest, listened for a long time to the excited speeches. Now he rose and said, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” Some of the council might have secretly had the same thought but not dared to express it openly. Caiaphas, however, shies away from nothing. It is all one to him whether they do right or wrong, whether they fulfill the law or bring bloodguilt upon themselves. His decision is certain. Earthly power must be secured even if heaven is lost in the process. If the agitated populace is to be restored to order and the authority of those in power maintained, then Christ has to die. That is the radical expedient. As always in such meetings, strength prevails. Caiaphas’s suggestion forces its way through, and the most terrible crime of the human race, the murder of the Messiah, is decided.
The whole meaning and purpose of this murderous decision can be summed up in Caiaphas’s remark: one for all. Yet “one for all” rang also in the shining depth of the heart of God. Caiaphas had to prophesy because he was the high priest. Without knowing it or wanting it, he had to disclose God’s eternal counsel of grace. All people have sinned and deserve death, but God will not let himself be robbed of his most beloved creation by Satan’s power and cunning. His heart is filled with pity for the whole race of his lost children. For this reason he prepared the one who is the head of all. He alone is pure and has done nothing to deserve death. Nevertheless he wants to die for all, for he is love. He is able to die without perishing, because he is life. His death is valid for all in the sight of eternal justice, because he is more than all, and because all are one in him. If he dies, all have died in his death; if he lives, all live with him. This is Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Son and the Son of Man.
One for all – that is now the comfort of all who have faith. What a dark mystery life and death would be without this word! But if the inscription “one for all” is placed over the manger and the cross, how clear everything becomes.
How could we dare to call ourselves God’s children if Christ were not born for us? How could we believe in the forgiveness of our sins if he had not atoned for us? How could we approach death with tranquil hearts if he had not died for us? Yes, “Christ for us” – “One for all”. That is the great fact of salvation through which the world is saved, our human race is newborn, our life is blessed, and death is overcome. Whoever grasps this One in faith has everything that he needs both here and in eternity, peace on earth and blessedness in heaven.
– Johann Ernst von Holst
The Crucified is My Love: Morning and Evening Devotions for the Holy Season of Lent
“For wisdom is better than rubies;
And all that you may desire cannot compare with her.”
— Proverbs 8:11
I am blessed to be a student of theology and languages. When I’m not studying, I’m often teaching others. I read and collect books like an academic but it would be stretch to identify myself as one. My areas of interest are varied, possibly quite too diverse to be an expert on anything. My research speciality: messy people searching for God.
I enjoy reading literature, philosophy, and theology in multiple languages. However, I am usually doing so between appointments, doctors visits, counseling sessions and meals with people who teach me more about God’s love. Unless it is finally time for uninterrupted reading (between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.), I am usually reading on the run.
Thank heavens I do not have to publish scholarly articles in order to achieve tenure or to simply keep my job. If I do read them it is because they interest me. I read them because they can help me better understand or communicate something of interest to me.
Princeton University Press, 2020
In her book, Lost in Thought, Zena Hitz eloquently makes a case for learning for pleasure, learning for its own sake. She notes that learning can cultivate the inner life and aid us in our search for human flourishing. The intellectual life can also lead us to God who is truth and true beauty.
Throughout the book she interacts with philosophers, novelists and two of my heroes for the integration of their faith and Christian service: St. Augustine and Dorothy Day.
Hitz’s book is one of the best I have read so far this year. I recommend it both to my friends of faith as well as to those who profess to have no faith at all. It is a stimulating read that requires long pauses and thoughtful contemplation.
In this same vein, I would recommend the following two books:
The Hebrew Bible is a mirror that can help us discern if we are faithful to God’s calling as His holy people.
Marc Chagall, Isaiah
When I was younger, I would often get frustrated reading the First Testament. It was upsetting to see so much faithlessness, idolatry and sheer stubbornness. The older I get, the more I see myself. I begin to discern my own lack of faith, idolatry and yes, how I often insist that I am right when I am clearly not.
I find it interesting that in the New Testament, so many of Paul’s ethical arguments begin with baptism (i.e., Col 2:20). When Paul wants to argue that we are not living lives worthy of the Gospel, he reminds us of our death, burial and resurrection with Christ.
Because of the hardness of their hearts, Judah was taken off to exile in Babylon. God had not abandoned His purposes for them but they had to learn the hard way what it meant to be His people, to be a light for the nations. But this time, they had to be taught this lesson far away from home.
They were tempted, as they had always been, to want to be like the other nations. They envied their apparent prosperity and their forms of government. Numerous times God warned them that they were better off being God’s people among the nations. Their uniqueness was part of God’s promise to them and part of God’s blessing to the nations.
It seems that even in exile they had not learned their lesson. God warned them through His prophet Isaiah:
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (55:6–7 NRSV).
In his Lenten meditations, Walter Brueggemann writes:
“These verses are a familiar call to worship or a call to repentance, not a bad accent for Lent. . . . The imperative is around four verbs, ‘seek, call, forsake, return,’ good Lenten verbs. But this is not about generic repentance for generic sins. I believe, rather, the sin addressed concerns for Jews too eager to become Babylonians, too easy to compromise Jewish identity, Jewish faith, Jewish discipline — in order to get along in a Babylonian empire that had faith in other gods with other disciplines. The imperatives are summons to come back to an original identity, an elemental discipline, a primal faith.”
Brueggemann continues his meditation of this prophetic text and makes observations about the American church. He could have easily been writing about the Latin American or European church.
“I believe the crisis in the U.S. church has almost nothing to do with being liberal or conservative; it has everything to do with giving up on the faith and discipline of our Christian baptism and settling for a common, generic U.S. identity that is part patriotism, part consumerism, part violence, and part affluence.
“The good news for the church is that nobody, liberal or conservative, has high ground. The hard news is that the Lenten prerequisite for mercy and pardon is to ponder again the initial identity of baptism . . . ‘child of the promise,’ . . . ‘to live a life worthy of our calling,’ worthy of our calling in the face of false patriotism; overheated consumerism; easy, conventional violence; and limitless acquisitiveness. Since these forces and seductions are all around us, we have much to ponder in Lent about our baptismal identity.”
Maybe we’ve missed the mark trying to be something we’re not. Maybe we’ve forgotten that our sole allegiance belongs to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Quite possibly the narrative that most excites us and rises our blood pressure is that which appears on the nightly news and not that which we read from Genesis to Revelation.
I certainly do not have all the answers. But repentance, turning back to God and away from false identities and loyalties is always a good place to start.
Here are a few books that have challenged and inspired me this past year. I pray they might do the same for you this coming year!
Book Recommendations for 2021
These are the best reflections I’ve read about Coronavirus and the Christian faith. Both N.T. Wright and Walter Brueggemann are two of my favorite theologians.
Not only are we facing a pandemic, but a lot of political unrest. Please, please, please take the time to read Lee Camp’s political manifesto for Christians. It might just change your life (as Kingdom thinking does).
I have been reading and re-reading St. Augustine for years. I have also been following the work of James K. A. Smith. In this book I found much more than I imagined! This was this year’s most spiritually forming book for me. I highly recommend it!
I love reading biblical theology by scholars who strive to condense their longer and deeper works into tomes for a popular level. This book by Richard Bauckman is absolutely brilliant!
In addition to reading theology, I enjoy reading novels and poetry for spiritual formation. This year during quarantine I spent time with Rainer Maria Rilke and T.S. Eliot. I always love reading Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Check out these anthologies that will help you better discover the spiritual writings of these two Russian giants!
This past year I have taken a greater interest in Patristics. If you would like to read writings from early Christian theologians, the Philokalia is a great place to begin!
In addition to Patristics, I discovered Alexander Schmemann and his work, For the Life of the World. I started learning about sacramental theology in regards to storytelling in Catholic literature (for ex. Flannery O’Connor) and now I’ve found one of the classic works on the topic and it has revolutionized my thinking.
Check out this anthology of short stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. These stories can help you reflect on interracial relationships and what it means to be a part of the same community with people who are radically different than you are. Also check out Chimamanda’s fellow Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, especially his work, Things Fall Apart.
In the area of pastoral theology, I could not leave out a title by Eugene Peterson. This book is not to be read straight through but to be read little by little for deep reflection. This book is a part of a larger series on pastoral work.
Even before I saw his painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights” in person, I have been fascinated by the person and work of Hieronymus Bosch. So I thought I’d end this list with a book by one of my favorite publishing houses, Taschen.
Let yourself be challenged by people who are different than you, people who lived in other times and places. Dare to become not only better informed, but spiritually transformed.
Walter Brueggemann. Virus as Summons to Faith: Biblical Reflections in a Time of Loss, Grief, and Anxiety. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020.
The Giver of Bread and Fish Walter Brueggemann
Matthew 7:7–11
We do “thoughts and prayers” easily and glibly; we do “thoughts” without thinking; we do “prayers” without praying.
We commit that glib act because it is what we know how to do with an anemic god, or because we are embarrassed to do more, or because it is convenient and costs us nothing.
Now, however, we are driven to unthinkable thoughts, about all that is ending, and all this we have lost, and all that leaves us with a sinking feeling.
Now, however, we are driven, some of us, to unutterable prayers. We are driven to such prayer by awareness that our usual reliabilities are gone. We are driven to you, the abiding God when other helpers fail and comforts flee.
Thus we are bold to pray:
We are bold to ask, because it will be given! So we pray for the end of this virus, for the health of the neighborhood, for the recovery of the economy.
We are bold to seek, because you will be found! We seek your mercy and your goodness and your generosity, so let yourself be found by us.
We are bold to knock, because it will be opened. We know many doors slammed shut, doors of health and safety and comfort and fun. Open to us the door of life, and love, and peace, and joy.
Here we are in your presence:
We ask for bread: the bread of life, the bread of abundance, the bread of neighborly sharing. Do not give us a stone or a crumb.
We ask for fish: the fish of a good diet, the fish of your abundant waters, the fish that signs the gospel, Do not give us a snake or the hiss of poison.
We dare to pray, not because we are at our wits end, but because you are at the center of our life. Our hope is in no other save in thee alone! So hear, heal, save, restore! Be the God you have promised to be. Amen.
Jonathan Hanegan 