{"id":6258,"date":"2020-04-17T20:19:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T10:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=6258"},"modified":"2020-04-18T09:28:16","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T23:28:16","slug":"how-much-does-god-love-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/how-much-does-god-love-me\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Does God Love Me?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

How Much Does God Love Me?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Elijah Iskander<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Holy\nWeek leads up to the crucial death of our Lord. If we were to summarise this\nweek in one phrase, it is, The Cross<\/em>.\nIf the Cross was described in another way, that is love<\/em> – The Cross is Love<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, <\/em>24 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God<\/em>. \u2013 1 Cor. 1:23-24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some,\nthe Cross is foolishness, how could you\nbelieve in a god that would accept to be treated in this way? <\/em>Others take\nit one step further and say that it is a stumbling block. I want to believe but I can\u2019t.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some it\nis weakness, agony, failure. Even some Christian denominations have this view;\nthat Jesus was the victim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the\nOrthodox Christian, the Cross is victory and power, but above all the Cross is\nlove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we knew\nhow much God loved us, our lives would be different. If we knew the depth of\nHis love for us personally, our lives would be renewed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We meet so\nmany characters in the Scriptures of Holy Week. All their thoughts and actions could\nbe understood by asking one question – did\nyou know how much God loved you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We read\nabout the Israelites in the prophecy of the sixth hour of Good Friday. After\nthey saw the ten plaques, after the first-born of the Egyptians die, after the\nRed Sea is parted and they escape, after they receive manna from heaven, they then\ncomplain against God. We read, \u201cWhy did\nyou bring us out of Egypt to kill us in the desert, For there is no food and no\nwater, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.\u201d <\/em>The Lord Himself sent\nbread from Heaven to sustain them but even this, they did not like. (Numbers\n21:5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After everything\nthe Lord had done for the people of Israel, the question becomes, did you forget how much He loves you?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we look at Judas, a key figure of Holy Week, the question becomes, did you ever realise that Christ loved you? <\/em>While other church fathers disagree, St John Chrysostom believes that Christ did wash Judas\u2019 feet along with the other disciples. He did this to show him that He loved him. He wanted to give him one more chance. Maybe this would move his heart. Maybe this would have stopped Judas\u2019 scheme. Maybe this would soften his heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Judas knew how much the Lord loved him, would he have sold Him so cheaply for thirty pieces of silver? It would be impossible. If Judas knew how much the Lord loved him, would he have been able to go and betray Him with a kiss – an intimate, calculated and premeditated act? If Judas knew how much the Lord loved him then his life would have been very different. Perhaps the question for Judas becomes, did you ever know how much the Lord loved you?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we look at the two thieves that were crucified with Christ, we see two different perceptions of the crucified Christ. In the right-hand thief\u2019s creed of Good Friday, we say, \u201cWhat did you see and what did you comprehend,\u201d <\/em>to be able to confess Christ as King?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The left-hand thief didn\u2019t see or hear anything, we know this because we hear him blaspheme against the Lord when he said, \u201cIf You are the Christ, save Yourself and us\u201d<\/em> (Luke 23:39). If the left thief had known how much the Lord loved him, his words would have been very different. If he comprehended how much Christ loved him, perhaps he would have cried out like the right-hand thief, who could see how much Christ loved him. Even if every moment of his life had been away from Christ in not a negligent way, but intentionally for he was a robber, he was yet able to comprehend Christ\u2019s love. He looked at Christ and saw how much He loved him. He saw that Christ could overlook what he had done. It was not too late for the boundless love of the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sinner\nwoman rushed into the Pharisee house uninvited, breaks the flask of alabaster\noil, loosens her hair and wipes His feet with her. She made a spectacle of\nherself. She knew how much Christ loved her, she knew He would defend her, she\nknew He would honour her and say, \u201cwhat\nthis woman has done will be told as a memorial to her<\/em>\u201d (Matthew 26:13). Because\nshe knew how much Christ loved her, her actions without words, were testament\nto her recognition of Christ\u2019s love for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Peter\nalso, loved the Lord but in an impulsive moment he denied Him. If St Peter\nremembered in that specific moment how much the Lord loves him then it would be\nimpossible for him to deny. There was a momentary lapse; a moment that his fear\nclouded his vision of Christ\u2019s love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, St John the Beloved; the one whom Jesus loved. The one who knew how much Jesus loved him. He was unwavering in faith, standing at the foot of the Cross when all the other disciples had scattered. He could do this because he knew how much the Lord loved him, his words and actions were different. He was the one whom Jesus loved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us on\nGood Friday, we must reflect on these characters. I ask myself, in the midst of\nuncertainty, pestilence, plaque, setbacks in study or health, am I like Israel,\nforgetting what the Lord has done for me in the past? If I knew how much the Lord\nloves me, I will never be shaken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am I like Judas? If I know how much the Lord loves me, will I betray Him for a cheap lie? An inappropriate image or thought? An inappropriate relationship? If I know how much the Lord loves then my response to His love is an inability to do these things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am I like the right-hand thief? I know how much You love me, even if I have sinned and been far from You up until this day, I know it is never too late, I know You still have hope for me. I know that You can still accept me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we know\nhow much the Lord loves us, our words, actions and lives will be different. Knowing\nthe Lord is more than just information, we must have intimate knowledge of the\nBible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if I don\u2019t\nknow the Lord loves me? Knowing the Lord runs much deeper than facts, but\nhaving intimate knowledge of the Bible. How then, can I remind myself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cross. Look at the Cross. Contemplate the Cross. Sit at the foot of the Cross. Pray, Lord, I just need to remember, I just need to know how much You love me. This becomes easy, for we love for He first loved us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe bows his head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you. His arms are extended that he may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as he was once fixed to the cross in every part of his body for you, so he may now be fixed in every part of your soul.”<\/em> <\/p>St Augustine<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc9d Full Sermon<\/a> \ud83d\udc9d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Much Does God Love Me? Adapted from a sermon by Fr Elijah Iskander Holy Week leads up to the crucial death of our Lord. If we were to summarise this week in one phrase, it is, The Cross. If the Cross was described in another way, that is love – The Cross is Love. … Continue reading “How Much Does God Love Me?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24,287,86,120,110,6,236],"class_list":["post-6258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-christ","tag-compassion","tag-cross","tag-good-friday","tag-holy-week","tag-love","tag-passion-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6265,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6258\/revisions\/6265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}