{"id":6408,"date":"2020-05-24T19:01:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-24T09:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=6408"},"modified":"2020-05-24T19:01:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-24T09:01:30","slug":"the-proposal-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/the-proposal-of-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"The Proposal of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The Proposal of Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Mark Basily<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

One of the\nmost unforgettable days in someone\u2019s life is the day they either proposed or were\nproposed to. Whether good or bad, yes or no, it\u2019s still unforgettable. The\nwords used on the day are ingrained in your mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason\nwhy it is such a significant day is that it is a transitionary point in your\nlife. It marks the official transition from a relationship heading preparation\nfor a wedding and on to marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that\nday, there is so much love, so much hope for what it will become, and so much\nfaith in each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jews\nhad a different process, they didn\u2019t get down on one knee. The process would\nbegin when the man would bring a gift to the girl which would mark the covenant.\nIf she accepted the gift, it was done. He then says, \u201cI\u2019m going to go prepare a\nplace for you. When it\u2019s ready I will come back and take you with me to that\nplace and we will be there together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After he\nsaid this, he would leave to build an extension to his father\u2019s house for him\nand his new bride. This would take approximately one year to prepare and build.\nThe father would then determine the right time and he would go in a procession\nto bring his bride back to his father\u2019s home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we\nread in the gospel of John in the last supper discourse sounds, Christ frames\nHis departure in very similar fashion;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn My Father\u2019s house are many mansions; if it\nwere not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I\ngo and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;\nthat where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way\nyou know\u201d <\/em>\u2013 John 14:2-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence,\nthis was a Jewish proposal – a transition point in the relationship of Christ\nand the disciples. This was now heading toward a marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stays on\nearth for 40 days after His resurrection, until the Ascension. The ascension we\ncelebrate this coming week. The Ascension is major event that gets overlooked\nmidweek, between the Resurrection and the Pentecost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did\nChrist stay for 40 days? Why this particular number of days, why couldn\u2019t He\nremain of Earth forever? If you read through scripture, every time the number\n40 is used, it is a transitionary moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the\ntime of Noah, they remained in the Arc for 40 days and 40 nights. When Moses\ntakes the Israelites out of Egypt, they wonder in the desert for 40 years\nsearching for the Promised Land. A transitionary point in the history of Israel\nfrom being in the bondage of slavery to being heirs of God\u2019s people in their\nown land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Jesus\nbegins His ministry, He spends 40 days and 40 nights in the desert where He was\ntempted by the devil. A transitionary point from which He would begin His\npublic ministry and miracles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we\nhave the Ascension that takes place 40 days after the Crucifixion. This was a\ntransitionary moment for the disciples. From fear to courage, from not\nunderstanding who Christ was or what He was saying to being able to fully\ncomprehend His divinity and preparing for the marriage feast that was to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After His\nascension, we read, \u201cAnd they worshiped\nHim, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy<\/em>\u201d (Luke 24:52)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a\nstrange reaction to a loved one leaving. If you really loved someone, you would\nnot be joyful at their departure. Why were the disciples so joyful at the\nascension of Christ? Because the proposal is now coming into effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nremembered the words of Christ, I will go\nto prepare a place and when it\u2019s ready, I will take you with Me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were\njoyful to see Him leave so that when He returned, they would be going with Him.\nJust like the bride is joyful when her groom leaves to prepare a place for her,\nthe disciples can say goodbye to Christ with joy. It was joy in anticipation of\nwhat is to come. They spend the next nine days waiting for the Holy Spirit to\ncome upon them. How did they spend those nine days?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese all continued with one accord in\nprayer and supplication<\/em>\u201d \u2013 Acts 1:14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In prayer\nand supplication, they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We today,\nhear these words of Christ as though Christ is on one knee proposing to you,\nand saying, \u201cI am going to My Father\nhouse to prepare a place for you and then I will come again and receive you to Myself\nthat where I am, you may be also.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the day of Ascension, we celebrate the day He leaves to prepare that place as a transitionary moment in our lives, looking toward eternity. We ought to return to our lives with joy for we wait in hope of His return when we will be with Him. We live joyful in prayer, preparing for wedding that is to come. We live in this hope, in this faith, and in this love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc8d Full sermon<\/a> \ud83d\udc8d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Proposal of Christ Adapted from a sermon by Fr Mark Basily One of the most unforgettable days in someone\u2019s life is the day they either proposed or were proposed to. Whether good or bad, yes or no, it\u2019s still unforgettable. The words used on the day are ingrained in your mind. The reason why … Continue reading “The Proposal of Christ”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6409,"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":[3,2],"tags":[46,24,324,44,323],"class_list":["post-6408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-blogs","tag-ascension","tag-christ","tag-proposal","tag-resurrection","tag-wedding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408","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=6408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6410,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408\/revisions\/6410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}