In the beginning, God created all things, including man. All was good. He gave them instructions of what they were to do during their lives to please Him. They were, at this time, perfect. They started the entire human race. However, the prince of lies, who at one time was the brightest angel of all, was also present in the world, his bailiwick. Since he had chosen NOT to serve God, along with the other fallen angels, they rebelled and they would now make war with the Almighty Himself and on all that He stands for! The first thing he did was to tempt Eve in the garden of Eden, promising her and all that whosoever would eat of this fruit from the tree of knowledge that they could become like God Himself. This was the wrong thing to do. Adam and Eve were weak, to say the least. God realized what they had done, as well as they had after the fact. They did realize now what they had done, and were ashamed. God now told them that they would now have to work out their salvation through hard work and suffering. Because, remember, our main objective is to know God and serve Him in this life so that we could be with Him at the end of our life and be with Him for all eternity. They had committed the very first sin, Original Sin. Now we all have a share in this, since they are parents of us all. God had now determined to help those who wish to follow the path to eternal salvation. And, there ARE rules to follow.
Fast forward: God had determined that the followers of Israel, not Ishmael because of the blood line through the husband and wife, not through a servant, were to be the chosen ones. Moses had received the Ten Commandments from God, and passed them on to these believers. These are for all of us to follow. Those who don't will be cast into the fires of Gehenna, or hell.
Keep in mind that all of the Prophets of the old set of rules pointed to Someone in the future, who will be born of a Virgin, and be born in the town of Bethlehem, which is in Israel. He will come and hopefully save us all.
Remember that these Israelites have, by the law of Moses, been offering sacrificial Lambs and goats and doves to the All-Mighty in atonement of their sins. However, the people kept displeasing God by their actions. They seemed to know better than God Himself as to what was best for themselves. On the whole, they were lukewarm at best. The only that things could possibly get better is to have God Himself come down from heaven and help. This IS possible, because God can do whatever He wants, and nobody can tell Him any thing different. All believers were waiting for this person to manifest Himself, and take over the earth with the power of a king. God's ways are different. He will come down all right, but He will come as a poor person, not as someone who is rich. God loves the humble and poor people more than those who have everything but refuse to help anyone but themselves.
God had decided that to have a Son come in this Person. When He decided this, He knew that this Man will have to come from someone who is the purest being outside of being God to carry Him. Enter Mary, or Miriam, from the tribe of David. To become clean, God cleansed this person in the womb from the Original Sin which we have all inherited from Adam and Eve. (I mean, if you could make your mother the best that she could possibly be, to be without sin would be the best way. We don't have this luxury, but God does). Remember, Jeremiah was also cleansed before he was born. This is Scriptural. (Jeremiah 1:5) Mary is the NEW Ark of the Covenant; she carries the Son of God, Who was to come.
At the beginning in the garden of Eden, when the serpent tempted our first parents, God, after He told them that they would now have to work, He told the serpent that a Woman would always be at odds with him, and that she would stomp his head with her heel. This is also the mother of Him Who was to come, Mary.
Her Son was Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem, and He grew up in the humblest home in Nazareth. He hid Himself from the world until the time was right. He taught in the temple when He was twelve to the elders who were amazed with the words coming out of this child's mouth. After eighteen more years, when the young men were taught the truths about God, then they are ready to face the world. NOW the time was right, when Jesus was now thirty, the ripe age for young men to go out into the world. The very last Prophet of the Old Law was John the Baptist. He preached repentance to the people of that area, and told them that they need to be baptized to appease God. He was the cousin of Jesus, and when Jesus came to the Jordan river, He asked to be baptized. John said: "Behold the Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world", pointing at Jesus. Now the sacrifices of the temple were soon to be done away with, in a period of three years. Now we are to be sacrificing God Himself, in the way which will be taught.
Isaias called the one to come Saviour, Redeemer, and Deliverer, the Mighty One of God, the Word, the God of all the earth, to name a few of the names this one Who was to come. This is Jesus, the One Who was the One to come, the One that all the olden prophets pointed toward. HE was here as promised in the Flesh! Now, He knows that man is weak, and in need of teaching. This He sets out to do. He reiterates the 10 Commandments to them; He picks out some local men to follow Him and learn from Him the ways of God. The first one, Cephas, who was renamed Peter, was given the lead role among His followers. Peter was given the keys of heaven by Jesus. This doesn't mean that he is standing at heaven's door with a set of keys, ready to open the gate for those who will let in. It means that he, after learning all that Jesus teaches, is to tell all what they need to do to be redeemed, and thus, enter into eternal happiness. He will be the head of Christ's teachings upon earth, a visible head. Jesus's disciples are given the duty to copy Jesus in many ways: They are told to imitate the Last Supper, they are given the power to forgive or retain sins on others, they will eventfully receive the help of another Being, the Spirit of God, Who will help them remember everything that Jesus has taught them. This will come in a few short months.
Now, back to Jesus. Since He IS God, He is perfect in everything. And, being God, does not have of that Original Sin on Him. He knows everything, sees everything, knows people's thoughts and what they are planning to do. You can't fool God in ANYTHING!
Those of the Jewish mind-set didn't like what this John and this Jesus taught. It made them uncomfortable, to say the least. And remember, the father of lies is still around. He hates anyone who tries to learn the eternal Truth, as well as those who teach this Truth, which NEVER changes. He had gotten into the heads of the Jewish believers that this John and this Jesus need to go. They devised a plan. First, Herod has John the Baptist's head cut off, per the request of Salome, who has danced lustfully before him. This is pure history.
Jesus has also incurred the wrath of the Jews, and they have laid out their plan to dispose of Him also. Many people have lied concerning Him and what He has said. One of His own disciples, Judas, has sold Him out for a few pieces of silver. Now, onto the arrest of Him and His death.
Jesus had taken a few of His disciples with Him to the garden of Gethsemani. He prayed for all that was to be done to Him, because He already knew. It had been forecast in the writings of old. He prayed, as a man, to be delivered of these tortures. But, He also prayed that God's will be done. The heavenly Father seemed to have abandoned Jesus at this time; this is why Jesus prayed as only a man, even though He was still God. But, the Father saw all that was and is going to be done.
Jesus, the new Lamb of God, was to be sacrificed, so that His Blood could redeem all who believed in Him. He had left the Apostles the only way that the Father would accept, the sacrifice of His Blood. At the Last Supper, He took bread and changed it into His Body, which, since He is God, He can do. Then He took the wine, not grape juice, and turned it into His Blood, which, since He is God, He can do. NOBODY tells God what He can do and what He can't do. NOBODY!
Malachy in the Old Testament says:
"For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my Name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my Name a clean oblation: for my Name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts."
So, this tells us that a continuing sacrifice is to be done until the end of the world. You can't get a cleaner sacrifice than the Lamb of God Himself. This is God's word, not mine. Read it for yourself.
So, Jesus, Who is God, shed His Blood upon the cross at Calvary. The sacrifice of old is now gone. This new Lamb of God is still shedding His Blood. (All of time is present to God always, so everything is still going on). God did this for all humanity, if we just believe. If we believe, then we can see, not the other way around.
The Prophet Isaias said:
"...Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But He was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed."
Isaias chapter 53: verses 3-5
He died on the Cross for us, and every last drop of His Blood was shed for us. Longinus, with his lance, made sure of that when he thrust it into the Heart of Jesus after HE was already dead, thus draining the remaining drops of Jesus' Blood.
So you see, God has a master plan for all of us to follow. He has given the world the means, and these are based in the Church He has founded. The Apostles followed Him in His teachings, and paid the supreme sacrifice for this with the shedding of their own blood in the Name of Jesus. One was not martyred, however, and his name was also John, who was called the disciple who Jesus loved. This doesn't mean he was homosexual, but that God in the Name of Jesus, loved him very much and knew that he would help the new-found Church get going. He even said at the beginning of his Gospel:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Notice that this says 'that the Word was God', not a god.
John also wrote in the 6th Chapter of his Gospel:
And Jesus said: "I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall not thirst...I am the living bread which came down from from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is my Flesh, for the life of the world...He that eateth this bread, shall live forever. "
Therefore, the bread Catholics receive in Holy Communion is really Him, Body and Blood. It is NOT just a hunk of ordinary bread or regular wine. It is Him! Deal with it!
He was God in the Flesh. He taught what needed to be learned to be saved. He left a visible means of Himself in the world, His Church, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The word 'Catholic' means 'universal', which means it is for all of us to know about. God NEVER asks that innocent human blood be shed in His Name. He asks us to protect these same innocent ones and pray for those who shed this blood. He is the God of love, not of vengeance or submission. He has given us free will, to decide for ourselves what we should do. We should do what's right; to defend Him in His teachings, to love and serve Him, so that we can be with Him forever after we pass from this earth. We will all be judged by Him afterall, so choose wisely!
And His mother, Mary, who is to crush the serpents head with her heel, will help us if we but ask. The old serpent hates her, since, because of his pride, doesn't want to see a mere human person, who he thinks is below himself, do anything to stop him and, in the end, win the battle. She will prevail, because God says so!
Mary, please pray for those who are struggling with the eternal Truth, and bring them into the fold. Amen.
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