Showing posts with label Peter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter. Show all posts

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Pope Benedict XVI resigns


Benedict XVI (2005-present, Episcopal form of ...
Benedict XVI (2005-present, Episcopal form of Papal arms) An alternate version with Papal Tiara: here (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yesterday the Vatican has confirmed that Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger's papacy began in 2005 will come to an end at the end of the month, because Pope Benedict XVI is to resign. This is reportedly only the second time a head of the Catholic church has stepped down. The last time was nearly 600 years ago.

Cardinal Raffaele Farina, emeritus prefect of the Apostolic Library, said: "We were all taken by surprise, nobody had expected it. Many faces in the room were streaked with tears."
"We were amazed by the Holy Father's decision," said Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo. "But it is a choice that deserves respect and shows his profound love for the Church."

French cardinal Poupard said he and his colleagues had been called to what they thought was a routine event in the Vatican's Sala del Concistoro in the Apostolic Palace, next to St Peter's Square.
But at the end of the meeting, they were asked to sit down again and it was then that the Pope gave his declaration, announcing that he would step down on Feb 28 because of his age and dwindling strength.
"I understood from the very first words and I said 'My God'," Cardinal Poupard, a former Vatican culture minister, told Le Figaro.
"As it went on, I saw the faces opposite me express astonishment, stupor. The whole thing lasted a few minutes at most," he said.
"Then the Pope left with his usual discretion and restraint, leaving us all very moved in the face of this exceptional and historic decision."

This Wednesday morning looking tired but serene, Pope Benedict XVI told thousands of faithful that he was stepping down for "the good of the church," speaking in his first public appearance since dropping the bombshell announcement of his resignation.
Pope Benedictus XVI
Pope Benedictus XVI (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 85-year-old Benedict basked in more than a minute-long standing ovation when he entered the packed audience hall for his traditional AshWednesday general audience. He was interrupted by applause by the thousands of people, many of whom had tears in their eyes.
A huge banner reading "Grazie Santita" (Thank you Your Holiness) was strung up at the back of the hall.

Benedict's final public appearances are expected to draw great crowds, as they may well represent some of the last public speeches for a man who has spent his life — as a priest, a cardinal and a pope — teaching and preaching.

A Flemish delegation of pilgrims will be some of the last people to get a private audience coming Friday.


Yesterday on many television programs that seemed the only main news of the day and they talked for hours about this decision and about the possibility for change in the Roman Catholic Church recognising it has more members out of Europe than on this part of the planet earth.

For centuries the Catholics claim that Jesus pronounced that Peter had to be the leader of the church.For them he became the first "Pope" and all the pastors who leaded the Catholic chuch after him where followers of that first Pope and had the power received from God to speak without fault or to be infallible on belief matters.

We do have to question if it can be that human people can speak without error. Is it really that God apointed unerring people to be in charge of the Church of God?

Our fellow brethren of Blackpool Street, Burton on Trent ask in The Pope Resigns to do a careful reading of what is being sayd in the Holy Scriptures when Jesus speaks about the work that has to be done and about the faith his pupils do have to have. Jesus is actually saying in Matthew 16v15-19 that the rock on which the church is built is his confession and understanding of who Jesus is .

When we look at the book of Acts we also can clearly see that Peter is not the leader of the apostles. We also get to see that even the new convert who wrote so many important letters, Paul, did not get the leading role, though at some point he rebuked Peter (Galatians 2:11) James also was a co-brother of equal statue and duties with Peter.

We also may not forget that when Jesus was questioned about who would be the leader after Jesus he told them that they would have to be equal and be happy that they could do some duties in the Church, each to their own possibilities, in humbleness and love for each other.

Please continue reading: The Pope Resigns



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Thursday 9 April 2009

Around the feast of Unleavened Bread

Dutch version / Nederlands > Rond het Paasmaal


“And the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, the day for killing the paschal lamb, his disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparation for you to eat the Passover?" Then he sent two of his disciples, and told them. "Go into the city, and you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him; and whatever house he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, "Where is your guest-chamber, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"’ He will himself show you a large, upper room, furnished and ready. there make preparation for us." So the disciples went off, and came into the city, and found everything as he had told them.” (Mr 14:12-16 MONTNT)


“Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the paschal lamb must be sacrificed. So Jesus went to Peter and John saying, "Go and prepare for us the Passover, that we may eat it." "Where shall we get it ready?" they asked. He answered. "No sooner will you have entered the city than you will meet a man carrying a water-jug. Follow him into the house were he is going. "And to the good man of the house say, ‘The teacher asks you, "Where is the room in which I can eat the Passover with my disciples?"’ "Then he will show you a large upper room furnished. There make your preparations." So they went and found everything as he had told them, they prepared the Passover. And when the hour was come he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him, and he said to them. "With desire have I longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you that I certainly will not eat again until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then he had received a cup and given thanks, he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God is come." And he took a loaf, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying. "This is my body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me.’ He gave them a cup in like manner, after supper saying. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for your sake. "But behold, the hand of my betrayer is at the table with me! "The Son of man indeed goes on his way, as it has been determined; but woe to that man by who he is betrayed." And they began to question among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do such a thing. And there arose also a dispute among them as to which of them could be considered the greatest, and he said to them. "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have who have authority over them are called Benefactors. "But you shall not be so. But he who is greater among you let him become like the younger; and he who is leader like him who serves. "For which is greater, he who sits at table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at table? But I am in your midst as one who serves. "You, however, are those who have stood by me in my trials. "And I promise you a kingdom, even as my Father has promised me a kingdom; "so that you shall eat and drink in my kingdom, and you shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. "Simon, Simon," said the Lord, "behold, Satan has asked to have you all that he might sift you like wheat. "But I made supplication for you that your own faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned again, must strengthen your brothers." "Lord," Simon said to him, "I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death." "I tell you, Peter," he answered. "the cock will not crow this day until you will three times deny that you know me." Moreover, he said to them, "When I sent you out without purse or wallet or sandals, did you lack anything?" They answered him, "We lacked nothing.’ Then he said to them. "But now let him who has a purse take it, and he who has a wallet, let him the do the same. And he who has no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one. "For I say to you that this word of Scripture must find it’s fulfilment in me. "And he was numbered among the transgressors, For that which concerns me has its accomplishment." "Master" they said, "here are two swords!" "That is enough," he answered. Then he went out, and began to go to the Mount of Olives, as was his wont; and his disciples followed him. But he arrived at the place he said to them, "Pray that you enter not into temptation." But he himself withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, kneeling down he prayed repeatedly, saying. "Father, if thou art willing, take away this cup from me; but thy will, not mine, be done!" (And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. (And being in agony he kept praying more earnestly; and his sweat became as if it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.) When he arose from his prayers, and came to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said to them. "Why are you asleep? Get up, and pray that you enter not into temptation." While he was still speaking there came a crowd, and he who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus in order to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, "Judas, you are betraying the Son of man with a kiss?" Those who were around him, when they saw what was about to happen, said to him, "Lord, shall we strike with our swords?" Then one of them did strike a blow at the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. "Permit me to do this at least," said Jesus, as he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the corps of priests and captains of the temple and elders who had come out to arrest him. "Have ye come for me with swords and clubs to arrest me like a robber? "When daily I was with you in the temple you did not stretch out your hands to take me; but this is your hour and the power of darkness." So they seized him and led him away, and took him to the house of the high priest; while Peter was following him a long way off. And when they had lighted a fire in the center of the court, and had sat down together, Peter was taking his seat among them. But a certain maid servant saw him taking his seat near the fire and, with a sharp glance at him, she said, "This fellow was with him, too!" But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I know nothing about him." A little later a man saw him, and said, "You too are one of them" But Peter declared, "Man, I am not." But an hour afterwards another man kept insisting, saying. "Really,this fellow was with him. Why, he is a Galilean." "Man," said Peter, "I do not know what you mean." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crew. Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter recollected the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "This very day, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." And Peter went outside and wept with bitter crying. Meanwhile the men who were holding Jesus in custody kept mocking and striking him. They would blindfold him and ask him. "Prophesy! Tell who struck you!" And they said many other insulting things against him.”
(Lu 22:7-65 MONTNT)

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2013 update:
 
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Friday 19 December 2008

Satan the evil within

In Dutch / Nederlands > Satan het kwaad in ons & Satan of the duivel

Every human has the possibility to make choices. All creatures have an instinct, which direct them to do or not to do things. Human beings have the inner feeling of what they can do and of what can be right or wrong to do.

Satan is described as “going to and fro in the earth”. There is no implication that he was doing anything sinful. Zechariah 1:11 implies that this is a Hebraism for observing. This being is not a special person or anything. It is the evil in our selves. Our bad thinking.
Satan means adversary or accuser. (a noun or adjective, not a proper name) (sa’-tan) (saTan), adversary, from the verb saTan, to lie in wait (as adversary); Satan, Satanas, adversary, diabolos, Devil, adversary or accuser.
It is very easy for us, as we read Bible verses, to give to the terms devil and Satan the meaning which we prefer. And if that meaning is not the same as the Bible writer intended, then we are changing the true sense! In several denominations they gave the devil or Satan a real figure not a representational thing. When Bible passages are read, devil and Satan are being understood by different readers in different senses.
To find the vital key it is important to begin with the Old Testament, and not with the New. To modern ears this may sound strange, but remember that the Old Testament was written first, many centuries before the New. And since they both really form one revelation from God, the New Testament writers knew the Old Testament very well indeed. They quoted from it and they used its terms; and among the terms they used is Satan. (In fact the term “devil” occurs rarely in the Old Testament and is used differently there from the way it is used in the New.)
So we begin with Satan, the Old Testament term. What does the word “Satan” mean? It is not hard to find out. Take the case of Balaam who lived in the days when the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness. He was a prophet who had been told by God not to go on a certain hired mission to curse the Israelites. But he wanted the money offered him as a reward, so he went. Riding upon an ass, he soon found his way blocked by an angel: “The angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary” (or enemy) (Numbers 22:22, RSV).
The word for “adversary” is Satan (from which we get our “Satan”) and that is just what it means. Notice two things: Satan here is an ordinary word meaning adversary or enemy, and not the name of a person. The word occurs again only 10 verses later: the angel said to Balaam, “Behold, I am come forth to withstand you” (verse 32), literally “to be an adversary to you”.
This is the first time the word Satan appears in the Hebrew record. Notice that this Satan is a good angel, “the angel of the Lord”, who is doing what God wants, and not an evil one! If we look up in a Bible concordance the way the word Satan is used in the Old Testament, we shall find that it means an adversary and an enemy. For example: “Why,” cried David, “should you (Joab and his brothers) be adversaries (satans) unto me?” (2 Samuel 19:22). And so in half a dozen other cases, where the allusion is usually to men.
Here we have one of the most frequently quoted cases in all the Bible. The first few verses of chapter one describe Job as living in the land of Uz, a God-fearing man who had many possessions. Then, verse 6:
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.”
“There you are”, some people say, “Satan was in heaven among the angels! He must be a supernatural being!” But let us remember our vital rule: we must understand Bible terms in a Bible sense. “Sons of God”, for instance: it is true that once in Job (38:7) this term is used of the angels; but in the Bible as a whole it is often used of men and women who really worship God as contrasted with those who do not. God used it of Israel through the prophet Isaiah:
“Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name . . .” (Isaiah 43:6-7)
So in the New Testament the apostle John, referring to believers in Christ, wrote: “Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 John 3:2). So the “sons of God” among whom “Satan” came (in Job chapter 1) need not be angels in heaven; they could be people on the earth.
But how could they “present themselves before the Lord” if they were not in heaven? Again the Bible itself gives us the answer. Moses and Joshua were once told to “present themselves” in the “tent of meeting”, where God would appoint Joshua as the next leader of Israel (Deuteronomy 31:14-1 5). Many years later Joshua called together all the elders of the tribes of Israel to Shechem, where “they presented themselves before God” (Joshua 24:1). Later still, Samuel in his turn told Israel: “Present yourselves before the LORD . . .” (1 Samuel 10:19).
In the New Testament it is said that Mary, the mother of Jesus, shortly after the birth of her son, came to the temple in Jerusalem “to present him to the Lord . . . and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord” (Luke 2:22-24). The “sons of God” in Job, then, who came to “present themselves before the Lord”, had come together to worship God in the appointed place, and, of course, in the presence of the appointed priest at that time. This is a scene of worship upon the earth, not in heaven.
But what of “Satan” who came among them? Here the English translators have not really played fair with us, for all the Hebrew says is “the adversary”. The capital S in Satan is the translators’ own invention, for Hebrew makes no distinction between capital letters and others. Even in the margin the Authorized and Revised Version translators have printed “the Adversary”, suggesting by their capital A (for which they have no evidence) that this is that special Adversary, Satan. All that the Hebrew justifies us in saying is “the adversary came among them”.
But who could this adversary be? If this was a group come together to worship, he would be one of them; in other words he was a man; and he was an enemy to Job, because he was jealous of him and wished him harm. But how then could there follow a conversation between the Lord and the adversary? Again the Bible itself supplies the answer, for in Old Testament times men often received messages from God through the appointed priest at the time. David, for instance, more than once consulted the priest when he wanted to know what God’s will for him was, and the priest spoke to him on behalf of God. So this jealous enemy of Job-perhaps one who posed as his friend-said to God through the priest, “Job only serves you for what he can get. Just try bringing some trouble on him and then you will see.” And God, because He had a great purpose with Job and desired to see him perfected, allowed the adversary to carry out his envious desire upon Job. But as the book clearly tells us, the power was God’s and not the adversary’s (Job 2:4-6).
So there is in this episode no need for a supernatural satan and no proof of one. All the expressions are commonly used of men. The Old Testament word Satan means an adversary; but as the example of Job shows us, there develops a natural tendency to use it of an evil adversary.
With this valuable background understanding we now look at an example of the use of “satan” in the New Testament. Peter had just made his great declaration of belief in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” and Jesus had pronounced a blessing upon him as a result. But Jesus then went on to speak of his own fate; he would have to go to Jerusalem and there the leaders of the Jews would seize him and he would be killed, but he would rise again the third day (Matthew 16:21). Peter could neither understand nor accept this and began to rebuke Jesus: “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” In other words, “You must not think of such a thing.” But Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan: you are a hindrance to me.”
Why was Peter a “satan”? Because he was being “an adversary” to Jesus; he was trying to persuade the Lord not to do what he knew had to be done in his obedience to the will of God. If Peter had had his way, Jesus would have rejected his Father’s will and his great sacrifice for sin upon the cross would never have taken place. So Jesus had to tell this “adversary” (satan) to “get behind me”. And then he adds a comment which is most important for our understanding: You are an adversary and a stumbling block to me, says Jesus in effect to Peter, for your mind is not on the “things of God, but the things of men” (verse 23, R.V.).
So this most important New Testament example teaches us some valuable lessons. First, this “satan” was a man; second, he rejected the will of God; third, what marked him out was that he desired to do the will of man instead-a most important clue, as we shall see later.
Let us remind ourselves what we have learned so far: a “satan” is an adversary, and nearly always an evil adversary.
If we go against something or oppose a good thing we become an adversary. If we go against the will of God, we become an evil adversary or a Satan.
The Bible uses personification: that is, something is spoken of as if it were a person when in fact it is not. We do find that when there is spoken about Satan or Lucifer in both instances sin is personified; and in both clearly it is sin that "has the power of death".
And so the Bible is telling us that the real devil is sin. And sin is the wrongdoing, or the evil actions we are able to do by our own choice.
There is no doubt then where we must look for the great enemy of God: it is in our own hearts and minds. So James tells us where we must look for the source of our temptations to do wrong. Are we led astray by some supernatural spirit whispering in our ear? Not at all; for, he says,
"Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire".
So our own "desire" is the origin of our temptations; and James tells us what is the result:
"Then the desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown brings forth death" (1:14-15).
The long history of mankind in the Bible shows how true this teaching is. The first pair of human beings preferred their own desire to obedience to God, and sinned. The human race fell away into "corruption and violence" and God had to judge it at the Flood. Israel, rescued by God from slavery in the land of Egypt and given a special opportunity to be God's people, turned away and preferred to worship idols and to behave in immoral ways like the godless peoples around them. Jesus, the Son of God, demonstrated His Father's truth and grace among men; they rejected and crucified him. And in the centuries following, men have abandoned God's teaching and perverted His ways. Yes, the great enemy of God is men and women rejecting His authority and fulfilling their own natural desires.
With textfragments from Marcus Ampe, Mark Mattison and Duncan Heaster
More reading > Satan or the devil