OPENING PRAYER
"Man Shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"- Matthew 4:4- "My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it" - Mark 8:21
Having received this day as a gift, I (We) thank You Holy Trinity, for through Your goodness and patience You were not wrathful with me (Us), and idler (s) and sinner (s), neither have You cast me (Us) down in my (Our)sins...But You have shown Your love towards me (us) and have guided me (us) to keep my (our) daily watch to glorify Your power...Enlighten my (our) mind (minds) to study Your teachings in Scripture...Help me (us) to apply what I (we) learn and to praise You with all my (our) heart and glorify Your Holy Name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever...Amen!!!
Shine within my (our) hearts, loving Master, the pure Light of Your Divine Knowledge, and open the eyes of my mind that I may understand Your teachings...Instill in me (us) also reverence for Your Blessed commandments, so having conquered sinful desires I (we) may pursue a spiritual way of life, thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to You...For You, Christ my God, are my light, and to You I (we) give, glory, together with Your Father and Your Holy Spirit, now and forever...Amen!!!
CHANT PSALM 23
INTO YOUR HANDS LORD YESHUA (JESUS CHRIST) WE COMMIT OUR SOULS AND BODIES, BLESS US AND HAVE MERCY ON US AND GRANT US ETERNAL LIFE!!!
JOHN 20-STUDY GUIDE
THE TOMB IS EMPTY- See also (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12)
JOHN 20:1-10
20:1: THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK: Is Sunday, or the Lord's Day: The remembrance of this day in Christian tradition does not replace the Sabbath, but completes it: Saturday still remains the Sabbath, the blessed day on which Christ rested in the tomb, just as He rested when He completed the creation of the universe- (Genesis 2:2): Because of the Resurrection, Sunday is also known in the Church as the eighth day, which symbolizes eternity, a day without end:
20:2: THOUGH JOHN: Does not mention the other myrrh bearing women- (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10), Mary's use of WE indicates they were present at the time:
20:3-8: THE RESPONSE OF PETER AND JOHN (THE OTHER DISCIPLE)- reveals each one's disposition: John's reaching the tomb FIRST indicates his faith is lofty and full of understanding, and indeed, he is the first to have BELIEVED- (v. 8): Peter's faith, on the other hand, is more direct and bold, shown by his immediate entrance INTO THE TOMB- (v. 6):
20:7: THE DETAILS JOHN GIVES CONCERNING THE LINEN CLOTHS: confirm the Resurrection, for if thieves had taken away Christ's body as Mary initially thought (v. 2), they would not have taken the time to strip the body, nor fold and place each piece carefully and separately!!!
20:9: THE SCRIPTURE: had foretold Christ could not remain DEAD- (Psalm 15:10):
YESHUA (JESUS) APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE
JOHN 20:11-18
20:11-18: THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE RISEN LORD AND MARY: is like the encounter between the bride and her beloved in the Song of Solomon- (SS 3:1-4): The parallel teaches us that through the Resurrection, Christ has taken the Church to be His eternal Bride- (see notes at John 2:1-11; read Ephesians 5:31-32; and read Revelation 21:9-10-see my notes on that- Shalom!!!)
20:13: WOMAN: See my notes- at John 2:3-5
20:14: See my notes- Luke 24:16
20:16: THAT MARY TURNED AGAIN- (see- v. 14)- Shows she had been looking back and forth between the angels- (v. 12) and her Lord, sensing the awe of the angels in the presence of their Ruler, but not yet recognizing YESHUA (JESUS) herself: Through Christ calling MARY by name, her eyes and heart are opened, and she recognizes Him- (see- John 10:3-4): RABBONI is an affectionate term meaning MY DEAR TEACHER!!!
20:17: DO NOT CLING TO ME: Christ does not prohibit the touching of His resurrected flesh, for we commune with His flesh in the Eucharist, and He commands Thomas to touch Him- (v. 27): Here, Christ is instructing Mary to understand and accept that His life is not merely continuing in the same state as before, and that He will not remain with her as He did in the past, but is pressing forward to His Ascension to the FATHER:
20:18: MARY MAGDALENE: having remained faithful to Christ to the end, is the first person sent to proclaim the risen LORD, and so is the first apostle of the Resurrection: She is known in the Church as the apostle to the apostles:
YESHUA (JESUS) APPEARS TO TEM DISCIPLES
JOHN 20:19-29
20:21-23: CHRIST COMMISSIONS THE DISCPLES: to continue His mission on earth, granting them THE HOLY SPIRIT- (v. 22) and the authority to FORGIVE SINS of others - (v. 23): (see the articles "Ordination" at Acts 14 and Confession at 1 John 1): Through this direct consecration and through apostolic continuity Christ's own Priesthood is communicated to the bishops and presbyters of the Church:
20:24-29: THE DOUBT OF THOMAS: is described in the Church hymns as "Blessed", for it was not a doubt of resistance to truth, but instead was one that desperately desired a truthful answer- a "doubt" which gave birth to FAITH when the answer was revealed: In our Church hymns- Christ says to Thomas- "Your doubt will teach My Passion and Resurrection to all, and we affirm that his doubt brought the hearts of believers to knowledge: The conversion of Thomas' doubt into faith led him to the clearest confession of Christ's divinity, addressing Yeshua (Jesus) as MY LORD AND MY GOD- (v. 28):
20:30: SIGNS: See- Note at John 2:1-11:
JOHN 21- STUDY GUIDE- BREAKDOWN
YESHUA (JESUS) EATS WITH THE ELEVEN
JOHN 21:1-14
21:1: THE SEAL OF TIBERIAS: is another name for the Sea of Galilee: Because Christ's resurrected body was transfigured and incorruptible, it was not visible unless He willingly SHOWED HIMSELF: His resurrected body is indeed human, but is glorified in every respect and illustrates the kind of body each believer will have in the general resurrection- (see- 1 Corinthians 15:42-49):
21:4: See my note at Luke 24:16- Study
21:6-7: THIS IS THE SECOND TIME: Christ provided a MULTITUDE OF FISH for these men- (Luke 5:4-6): YESHUA (JESUS) often revealed Himself after the Resurrection through words and acts that were familiar - (John 20:16; Luke 24:35): It is through this familiar grace that our Lord is recognizable to all His followers- (see also my notes- Luke 5:6): JOHN THE BELOVED DISCIPLE, is the first to perceive that the Man on the shore IS THE LORD, showing that love for Christ brings spiritual insight: PETER PLUNGING INTO THE SEA demonstrates the boldness of his faith- (see my John 20:3-8 notes)
21:8: THE GREAT CATCH OF FISH: Is an image of the DISCIPLES bringing mankind to the knowledge of Yeshua (Jesus) Christ, and it fulfills the prophecy of (Jeremiah 16:16): In the festal hymn of Pentecost we sing to Christ, Through the fishermen, You drew the world into Your net..."
21:11: PETER: takes the initiative in dragging THE NET TO LAND, A act symbolic of his leadership in the early Church: That the net WAS NOT BROKEN shows the invincibility of the Church , while the number ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE- Symbolizes all nations of humanity!!!
21:12: THE DISCIPLES' INNER DESIRE: to ask Christ, "WHO ARE YOU???" shows His form was altered in a way that amazed them: Yet they did not ask because they knew even though His appearance was altered, IT WAS THE LORD:
21:13: THIS MEAL: is reminiscent of the feeding the five thousand and carries the same eucharistic significance - (see- notes at John 6:2-14): THE FISH became a symbol of identity for early Christians: The initials of the phrase- "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior- In Greek form the acronym ICHTHYS, which is Greek for FISH!!!
YESHUA (JESUS) RESTORES AND COMMISSIONS PETER & THE BELOVED DISCIPLE AND HIS BOOK
JOHN 21:15-25
21:15-17: THAT CHRIST SINGLES OUT SIMON PETER: has a twofold significance: (1): Peter was the leader among the disciples, and so had to be the first to confess his LOVE for the risen Lord- (2): Peter had denied Christ three times- (John 18:17, 25-27), and here Christ restores Him with a Threefold confession of love: It is important to know two things- the first two times Christ inquires of Peter, DO YOU LOVE ME??? He uses a form of a word agape, which denotes the highest form of sacrificial and self-emptying love, the kind of love God has for a man and that a man can develop only through maturing in God's grace: Each time Peter is unable to claim such a lofty love: When Peter answers, "YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU" -THE THIRD TIME "DO YOU LOVE ME???": He has changed to the term philo, condescending to Peter's weakness and accepting whatever love Peter is able to offer: Christ, knows that Peter will develop agape love for Him, as Peter will eventually accept martyrdom for His sake- (vv. 18, 19): PETER WAS GRIEVED both that the Lord had to condescend to his level of love and that this was clear, though gentle, reference to his three denials!!!
21:18-19: THIS IS CHRIST'S: Second prophecy of Peter's martyrdom- (see John 13:36 notes), which Peter would suffer under Nero in about 67 AD BY BEING CRUCIFIED UPSIDE DOWN:
21:20-23: THIS DISCIPLE IS JOHN: the author of this Gospel: St. John lived a long life, dying at about the age of 100- (AD 98-108): Early Christians marveled at his longevity, and some thought he would not die before the return of Christ: John corrects this assumption by clarifying that YESHUA (JESUS) DID NOT SAY TO HIM THAT HE WOULD NOT DIE:
21:24: JOHN'S USE OF WE: indicates he had an assistant: Tradition holds John used a scribe named Prochorus who wrote down his words and teachings; this scribe is shown in many icons!!!
21:25: ACKNOWLEDGING HIS GOSPEL: contains only a fraction of Christ's life, John has WRITTEN his book to bring his hearers to faith- (John 20:31): While the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke contain many more miracles and parables, these too are far from exhaustive: this verse not only emphasizes the holiness of what was written, but also points to the ongoing oral tradition within the Church- (see- 2 Thessalonians 2:15):
"LETS DEPART IN PEACE IN THE NAME OF THE LORD- MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST!!!
"GO OUT AND FEED HIS SHEEP AS WE HAVE BEEN COMMANDED TO DO BY OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!!! WE MUST CONTINUE TO DO THE WILL OF THE OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN JUST LIKE YESHUA (JESUS) DID SO LONG AGO!!! WE HAVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND IT WILL LEAD US AND GUIDE US THROUGH OUR JOURNIES IN CHRIST!!!
END WITH THE LORD'S PRAYER!!!
JPCE SPIRITUAL TALK
NEVER HOLD BACK
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
JEHOVAH SHALOM!!!
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