Posted on 09/21/2015 8:02:17 AM PDT by Salvation
In the papal visit soon to unfold in this country we see writ large a process and pattern established by Jesus Himself. In this blog post we will look especially at the process of preparation and see that it is quite directly connected to the way in which Jesus operated.
To many readers of the gospel, who overlook the details, it could seem that Jesus and the Twelve just wandered about in a haphazard manner, charismatically deciding “on the fly” when and where to go. But according to Scripture, this is not the case.
Jesus had a plan, an itinerary of his journey, laid out rather carefully it would seem. Further, He sent “advance teams” on ahead to prepare the people for His arrival. Consider the following quotes:
Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:1-2).
And He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him (Luke 9:52).
Further, His “apostolic band” required financial and personal support. Here, too, this support was not accomplished in some disorganized way; it was more organized than many today would think. Scripture attests to this:
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources (Luke 8:1-3).
So the evangelical journeys of Jesus were not some haphazard wandering about.They visits were planned and the people were prepared. And here was the goal: that when Jesus entered, The crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him (Luke 8:40).
It is like this with the upcoming visit of Pope Francis. The pope is the Vicar of Christ; that is, he is Christ’s representative. People are not clamoring to meet Jorge Bergoglio; they are eager to meet the Christ he represents and whose Vicar he is.
It is much like the visits of Jesus in ancient Galilee and Judea, just writ larger—much larger! The villages and towns of the ancient Holy Land were seldom larger than a thousand people. Only Jerusalem, Caesarea, and some of the Greek cities of the Decapolis were much larger. Today, metropolises contain millions of people and the distances between them are global!
Many have been preparing the cities of Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York for his coming, and crowds will greet the pope, the Vicar of Christ.
Consider well the complex preparations! Be grateful to those who have labored long and hard. There have been long hours, complex arrangements, publicity, fundraising, logistics, last-minute changes, public safety, and delicate negotiations with religious and government officials and private citizens.
I have personally observed the sacrifices that many at the Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Washington have made. Do not underestimate the personal price that many have paid to ensure that all is ready, safe, and organized.
Be grateful, too, for the many benefactors who have generously supplied funds for this visit. Gratitude is also due to government officials, the Secret Service, the D.C. Police, and many other “first responders” who stand ready for the arrival and poised to care for any difficulties that might arise. Acknowledgement is also due to many individuals and business owners who will be inconvenienced due to the festivities. We are and must be grateful for their patience and sacrifice!
Yes, it is the apostolic and evangelical journeys of Jesus, writ large. They were organized and underwritten. So is this one. Many sacrificed to prepare towns for Jesus; many here have done the same for the pope. The Scriptures are really not so distant after all. They are still fulfilled in ever larger and more visible ways.
Surely Pope Francis would be the first to say, “Viva Christo Rey!” Indeed, may Jesus Christ be praised!
Matthew 16: 17-19
Peter’s Confession of Christ
…17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18”I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19”I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”…
Without the Catholic Church there would be no Protestantism.
And Christ says:
You are Cephas and upon this Cephas I will build my church.
Are you claiming that Christ woefully deceived us when He said this?
The Church is built upon Christ. And yet Christ claims that He will build His Church upon Cephas.
Both statements are necessarily true. Start from there, and one begins to get a feel for why the Pope is called the Vicar of Christ.
Thanks.
Linked below is a short work from the 19th century that will help you identify your pope. I suggest everyone here read it and beg the Lord for wisdom and discernment along the way. I don’t say link this to offend or upset Catholics, but because I care. Even though I don’t know any of you, I know your soul is too important and eternity is too long to be wrong about this. This papal antichrist will lead many over the cliff to destruction and doom. I don’t want to see anyone here go down that path.
The Papacy is the Antichrist: A Demonstration
http://www.historicism.net/readingmaterials/thepapacy.pdf
Pope Francis would never say that. He is a representative of Christ.
Without the Catholic Church there would have been no need for the Reformation. The church would have remained Christ-centric from the days of the Apostles.
FTI, no indulgences are sold today.
We ask Mary and the saints to pray for us.
Please educate yourself on the process of canonization. It is very complicated and long.
So Protestants believe that:
* Christ lied about giving us His Body and Blood.
* The Angel Gabriel lied about Mary being full of grace.
Why is it wrong to ask other people to pray for you?
If it’s wrong then you should definitely bust into the next Freeper prayer-request thread and put everybody right.
Uh, no. Start from there and you see that the church is built upon Evangelism as practiced by Peter and the other Apostles. Peter is a model missionary, willing to suffer even a terrible death as a result of his work. That is the reference Christ made regarding Peter.
Catholic edifices are almost entirely man-made off-topic contrivances designed for secular governance of an ignorant population.
Dead ones? Man-proclaimed special envoys to the Father? Jesus taught us to pray, and that lesson did not include intermediaries. Praying for someone else or asking someone to pray for you is NOT equivalent to communicating with God through some sort of proxy server.
No thanks. That is not a Biblical process, but rather an invention of a secular power-structure masquerading as a religious entity.
We ask Mary and the saints to pray for us.
Yes you do. There is no Biblical precedent for such activity. It is precisely like ancestor intersession practiced by Buddhists and other religions. It is idolatry.
If Christ meant to build only on Cephas's evangelism, then why did Christ give him the keys of heaven and the power to bind and loose?
And if there is no Apostolic succession - which is where Papal succession comes from - then why did the Apostles choose successors?
That power is extended to all believers. Even I can forgive sins in the name of Jesus Christ.
From Paul, or?...
No schism? Somehow given the human mind, I doubt that.
More gymnastics. Nobody asks the Saints to communicate with God as 'through some sort of proxy server', whatever that means. We ask Mary and the Saints to pray for us.
And why wouldn't we? They are alive in Christ. More alive than we are!
So the Evangelism program wouldn't dry up. So that those who were observed to be delivering the actual Gospel could be identified to the people as genuine. So that the most knowledgeable, experienced, and successful among them could serve in influential positions for training purposes. It was not a kingship. You might recall that Jesus himself scoffed at the idea of being an earthly king.
That has been rather continuous, hasn't it?
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