A Letter to the Juniors

Dear Juniors,

If we read our Bibles and pray everyday, we will grow, grow, and grow in the knowledge that there are two kinds of sermons in the New Testament that can get one killed. Both we find in Luke’s work.

In Acts 20, Paul preaching goes on and on and on that eventually Eutychus, a young person sitting by the window, falls asleep and falls to his death. In Luke 4, Jesus preaches a “gospel for the poor and liberation for the captives” in Nazareth, before his town mates, and almost gets killed for doing so.

As you begin your three or four-year journey here with us at Union Theological Seminary, we will try very hard to teach you how to preach like Jesus!

Let me remind you of the Student Christian Movements’ favorite bible passage.

Jeremiah 1:7-10
1:7 The LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you,” says the LORD.1:9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. 1:10 Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”

This is the kind of message, then and now, that can get the messenger killed.

So, Jeremiah’s reaction to God’s call was natural. When he said, “I am too young,” he meant more than his age. He was afraid. Jeremiah’s mission was to proclaim judgment and redemption. He was to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted. Do not forget, Jesus was almost killed when he preached his first sermon. It was natural to be afraid. Even Moses was afraid when God called him to deliver God’s people from bondage. Jeremiah’s message to nations and kingdoms still stand. Moses’ call to liberation is as important as it was 3 thousand years ago. And Jesus’ message of good news to the poor, the one that eventually led to his arrest, torture, and public execution, is as vital and as relevant as the first time it was preached.

On December 10, 1948, in a rare moment of grace, humanity came together and proclaimed that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family serve as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world; that it is essential, if humans are not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last a resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law; that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; and that they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of solidarity.

The world expressed its collective commitment to these declarations.

Moreover, 70 years ago, the world proclaimed that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. 70 years ago, humanity pledged “never again” to the injustices wrought on the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, and their children, and we declared “enough!” to the inhumanities effected by emperors, kings, and their ilk.

Unfortunately, today there are still emperors, and kings, and rulers who wield power over life and death. And two of these are in the White House and in Malacanang. There are still sons and daughters whom these kings order to be tortured and killed. There are still countless and nameless sons, daughters, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers who are abducted, never to be seen again. Everyday, in our country, in Palestine, in so many parts of our world, daughters and sons, many not even 12 years old, are violently taken away from their loved ones: snatched, imprisoned, and violated.

There are still young children who are arrested in the dead of night for throwing stones at tanks and armored personnel carriers. There are still rural health workers who are illegally detained and branded as communist bomb-makers for working among the poorest of the poor in the most far-flung barrios. And there are still bishops, priests, pastors, nuns,deaconesses, and youth leaders whose bodies are impaled for opening their homes, their hearts, and their lives to those whose only hope is God.

Today, 70 years after, the emperors and kings are still alive. Their empires and kingdoms still stand. But so is Jeremiah. So is Moses. And Miriam. And Deborah. And Jesus. They were alone in the biblical text. Right now, today, in our context, they are not. They are legion. They are alive in the different movements for life and liberation around us; alive among the youth and young people struggling for peace based on justice; alive wherever faith is stronger than fear; as they have been for the past 70 years. And much, much earlier.

Emperors and kings have the power to kill. But God's power is greater than death. The empire can kill Bishop Alberto Ramento but God can raise up ten more to take his place. Kings and rulers can kill Father Tito, Father Mark, and Father Nilo but God can raise up thirty to take their place.

For every prophet whose blood is spilled for love of country, for serving the people, for ministering to those whose only hope is God, God will raise up more...

God always will.

The Parable of the Istambays

Istambay can be translated as people who "stand by," "hang around," those waiting for opportunities to work, bums, or even "hangers on."

Istambays are now the targets of Duterte's peace and order campaign.

Many among us associate Istambays with the poor, those who lack education, those who live from one day to the next. Tragically, more of us think they are foul-mouthed, unruly, and prone to criminal behavior because they are poor, they lack education, and live from one day to the next. We even think they are lazy, are controlled by their emotions, and are always grumbling.

We have forgotten that if Jesus were alive today, he'd be one of them. And a target of Duterte's campaign.

Historians tell us that Jesus and his band were poor, lacked education, and lived from one day to the next. Anyone who reads the Gospels knows that Jesus was foul-mouthed. And Simon Peter as well.

That both the Roman and Judean elite wanted this unruly Galilean troublemaker dead to keep their brand of peace undisturbed is attested both canonically and extra-canonically. The fact that Jesus was crucified as a criminal requires no special pleading.

One of the most powerful stories of this istambay many of us confess as our Lord and Savior is the Parable of the Istambays in Matthew 20.

Research has shown us that the unemployed reached up to 15 percent during Jesus’s time. And a denarius is subsistence pay. Just enough for a person to eat for one day.

We confess that we, like Jesus, preach Good News to the poor, but every time we preach on this parable we take the side of the rich landowner. We celebrate his benevolence, his generosity, his being a symbol for God.

And we blame the Istambays for grumbling, for being ungrateful, for being unemployed, for being Istambays.

Diversity and Taking Sides

There are 66 books in the Protestant Bible. 73 in the Catholic Bible. The 39 books of the Protestant Old Testament is a Christian appropriation of the Hebrew Bible's 24. There are now over 5,700 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. No two of which are exactly alike. (There were 5,360 when I was in Graduate School.)

There are over 2,000 English translations of the Bible. Two of the most widely circulated are the King James Version and the New International Version.

Most of us know this already: the Bible is not a book. It's actually a library. And since it's a library, it offers theologies. Read and compare 2 Samuel 24.1 and 1 Chronicles 21.1 and you'll understand what I'm pointing out. Paul's and James's understanding of faith is a study in contrast.

When one reads the Resurrection accounts in the Canonical Gospels, one discovers that there were three women at the tomb in Mark, two in Matthew, an undisclosed number of women in Luke, and only Mary Magdalene in John. The herald of the resurrection was a young man in Mark, an angel in Matthew, two men in Luke, and Jesus himself in John.

The Bible is a wellspring of diversity. Dictators and despots have used it to perpetuate their regimes. Liberation movements have used it to ground their causes. Churches have used it to disempower, dehumanize, and demonize people of color, women, indigenous peoples, LGBTQi, people living with HIV and AIDS, PWDs, and many more. The disempowered, dehumanized, and demonized have used it to rise above their oppression. And most, actually, don't read it. It is the world's number one bestselling book. But buying one and reading it are two different things.

In the Philippines, the Bible has been used to legislate sin, to criminalize dissent, and legitimize tyranny. It has also been used to birth solidarity and resistance.

Diversity is a gift. But diversity in a world led by the likes of Trump and Duterte and dominated by systems and structures of greed, power, and privilege is tokenism. Thus, those of us who confess to follow Jesus preach good news to the poor, not simply good news. We follow the One who proclaimed blessings to the poor and declared woes to the rich.

We take sides. Like Jesus did. Because God always does.

IF THE CHURCH HAD VIBRANIUM...

We should work with Cuba so that the most disenfranchised peoples in the world will get the best education and the best medical services available.

We should cooperate and collaborate with indigenous communities in healing and nursing Mother Earth back to health. We should also invest in national industrialization for the poorest counties and empowerment programs for the people there.

We should also help provide the 666 billion dollars that is needed to address with finality world poverty, hunger, safe water and sanitation, decent housing, basic literacy, and universal health services.  

And, finally, if we had vibranium, we must charge the United States of America and the State of Israel with multiple counts of crimes against humanity!

BUT WAIT, WE DO HAVE VIBRANIUM! 

BUT WE DON’T CALL IT THAT. WE CALL IT LAND. BONDS, STOCKS, SPECIAL FUNDS. VAST RESOURCES. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. POWER. INFLUENCE. WE HAVE SO MUCH. 

We do have vibranium. And we have failed! 

UPRISING!

Whether we read the Bible or the Jewish historian Josephus or the Roman historianTacitus, one thing is crystal clear: Jesus lived and preached an alternative empire. Historians tell us that he lived a life of open healing and shared eating, of radical itinerancy, of empowered egalitarianism, of human contact without discrimination and without hierarchies, and of preferential option for the poor. 

And Jesus was executed by the Roman Empire because of this. A life totally dedicated to the liberation of the poor and the powerless is a very dangerous life. Those who follow the Galilean Jesus, actually, follow an executed God. 

Never forget this. Any movement that seriously serves the poor will be harassed, threatened, and, oftentimes, stopped by the privileged and the powerful. The ongoing harassment of Sr. Patricia Fox and the murders of Fr. Tito Paez and Fr. Mark Ventura are but three examples of this stark reality. Archbishop Oscar Romero was murdered by state agents. He gave his life as a ransom for many. He once declared, “You can kill me, but I will rise up in the People of El Salvador.” Anasthasis which is translated resurrection can also be translated Rising Up. Or much better, UPRISING!

Over and over in the Gospel of Mark, especially in chapters 8, 9, and 10, Jesus tells his disciples he will be handed over and be crucified. But God will raise him up. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, the disciples at the tomb are left silent and afraid by the young man’s challenge: the one who began the movement, the one who was executed, the one they expected to find dead inside the tomb was not there. God has raised him up. God had begun an UPRISING.  And the young man at the tomb says, “Tell the disciples and Peter.” Tell the ten and Peter.

Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, one seed produces many seeds. LET ME REPEAT THAT: UNLESS A SEED FALLS TO THE GROUND AND DIES, IT REMAINS A SINGLE SEED. BUT IF IT DIES, ONE SEED PRODUCES MANY…

For every one that offers one’s life for serving the people as a ransom for many, God will raise up ten. For every ten, God will raise up a hundred… For every hundred, a thousand.

Why "Kingdom of God"?

Historians tell us that Jesus and his band could have proclaimed Family of God
Or Fellowship of God. Or People of God. Or Church of God.
Even Synagogue of God. But they did not.

They instead proclaimed, Kingdom of God.
They also preached Good News to the Poor. Liberation to the Captives.
And Peace based on Justice.

All Anti-Imperial rhetoric.
Subversions of the pillars of the Pax Romana.
Scandalous. Dangerous. Rebellious.

Often, you and I forget that we follow an Executed God.

How to Read the Bible

Many among us grew up singing, "Read your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow..." The truth of the matter is this: many Christians do not really read the Bible. What we love to read are the devotional guides: The Upper Room, Our Daily Bread, and the like. Actually, many seminaries and divinity schools do not require their students to read the Bible. Go and check their syllabi online.

Students are required to read books about the Bible. Classes in Hebrew Bible or Old Testament require students to read Anderson, Gottwald, Bruggemann, and not the 39 books from Genesis to Malachi. Classes in New Testament require students to read Ehrman, Brown, Levine, but not the 27 books from Matthew to Revelation.

Students of Hebrew and Greek read grammar books and many do not even get to see the actual Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.

So, we don't really read the Bible because most of us grew up reading other things. But most of us did grow up with the Bible. We grew up hearing the Bible! During Scripture Reading, via homilies, in Sunday School, through the stories our elders taught us.

My friends, the Bible was written to be heard. For centuries Christians heard the Bible. Printed copies were rare and exclusive to the rich and the learned. The printing press changed all that. Now almost everyone has copies of the Bible. But this does not change the fact that our most cherished sacred text was written to be heard.

So, what's the best way to read the Bible? Out loud. With others. In community.  Listen. Hear your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow...

Immanuel (Prayer for Interns)

Dear God, Parent of us all, as we leave this sacred place let us celebrate the promise of Immanuel. Let us not forget that in the fulness of time you left heaven to be with us because no one needs to be alone. No one, ever, deserves to be alone.

And Immanuel only makes sense in relationship.

No one can serve as God's presence to oneself. To be Immanuel is to serve as God's presence to another. Help us remember, it takes at least two people to affirm Immanuel!

As we read our Bibles and pray every day, we will grow, grow, grow in the realization that Jesus was one of a pair. Throughout his ministry. Until his death and beyond. There was always Mary Magdalene.

Mary was Jesus's Immanuel.

As our interns leave the portals of our beloved Seminary, you are sending them out to serve as Immanuel. Being Immanuel is, often,  a thankless ministry. Look at what happened to Mary Magdalene. Historians tell us that the early church had three pillars. Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene. But today most have no idea about her discipleship, her apostleship, and her leadership. Actually today, Roman Catholics celebrate Peter. While Protestants quote Paul more than Jesus.

Who among us know anyone named Mary Magdalene? Forgive us because most of us have internalized the demolition job church and society have done to Jesus's Immanuel.

Our interns  will face a lot of challenges in their internship. They will receive a lot of criticism. They will cry, they will get frustrated, they will get disheartened.

But they will persevere because they know that, despite the fact that there are over 100 million Filipinos and over 20 million Sri Lankans right now, there is someone who is so alone.

That someone might be a person living with HIV and AIDS demonized for his/her sexual sins. That someone might be a driver, a former OFW, whose 15-year old jeepney has been marked as worthless. That someone might be an ALCADEV teacher facing harassment and death threats from the very people sworn to protect her.

That someone might be a church worker who has to deal with sexual harassment from superiors and colleagues. That someone might be a young person who has to face her pregnancy alone.

That someone might be a single parent struggling to make both ends meet while caring for her family that many call dysfunctional. That someone might be a labor union leader being hunted by armed goons for standing up for labor rights.

You did not create us to be alone, yet right now, someone is.

And when our interns meet this someone, then he or she will cease to be alone. Never forget this. Ever. The best way to experience God's presence in our lives is to be God's presence in someone else's life.

So, go. Let us all go. Interns, go. Graduating Class, go!

Be Immanuel. Because no one deserves to be alone. Be Immanuel and encounter the other, among the poor, the dehumanized, the dispossessed. Be Immanuel and experience God.

Amen

[Interns' Commissioning, 4 April 2018, Union Theological Seminary, Philippines; photo from Pastor Kakay Pamaran, UTS Field Education Office]

Los Desaparecidos

We, who call ourselves Christian, should not forget that the One we call Lord and Liberator was a victim of state-sanctioned murder. He was abducted in the dead of night, unjustly tried, beaten, tortured, and executed between two rebels.

Many Jesus Scholars tell us that nobody knew what happened next. There are those who say that his body was left on the cross, to be feasted upon by wild dogs. Others say he was probably thrown into a mass grave. Still others say his body was placed hastily into a borrowed grave.

Paul writing in the 50s never talks about the empty tomb. The story of the empty tomb in Mark arrives at least two decades after.

And the Markan story is clear. There is no body. The women came to mourn, they came for closure, they came with spices. Jesus had disappeared!

Whether we talk about the Philippines, Argentina, Palestine, and many more places in the world, countless cannot mourn or find closure because their children, their parents, their comrades, their teachers, their students, like, Jesus, have disappeared.

Like Jesus they walked and worked with those whose only hope is God. Like Jesus their lives were dedicated to struggling for peace based on justice. Like Jesus, they were threats to the rich and the powerful. And like Jesus, they all disappeared!

Like the women at the tomb, many of us are silent and afraid. Like the women in the tomb, we want to find The Disappeared. We want to find them alive. Or if they are dead, we want to find their bodies. We want to anoint them with fragrant oils. Maybe build a monument or set up a memorial for them. We want to mourn. We want closure.

But the message of the young man in the empty tomb is as real today as it was thousands of years ago… Jesus is not in the tomb. He is risen. He is in Galilee… Waiting for us!

We also believe that The Disappeared has risen again in the tens, in the hundreds, and in the thousands who continue what they begun: fighting and struggling for justice, for peace, for liberation. Like Jesus, they are in Galilee where we do not want to go; where the good news is preached to the poor; where the hungry are given food; and where liberation is proclaimed to the captives…

The Disappeared are waiting for us to pick up where they left off.

[photo from ManilaToday]

Black Saturday took longer than 24 hours!

That Jesus of Nazareth was executed via crucifixion by the Romans is a historical fact. That Jesus is Risen is a confession of faith. Those of us who went to seminary learned this early in our ministerial formation. John Dominic Crossan has argued that "Good" Friday brought about "Black" Saturday which eventually birthed the "Easter" Faith. And that Saturday was longer than 24 hours. Much, much longer.

Let me explain.

Students of the Bible will discover right away that the writers of the New Testament books have different interpretations of the Resurrection.

Paul has several. First, appearances. The Risen Christ appears to his followers. Next, Jesus's resurrection as the first-fruits of the general resurrection. Third, the Church as the Body of the Risen Christ.

There are no appearances in Mark. Since almost all historians agree that the gospel ends in 16.8, what we have is a young man proclaiming that Jesus has been raised and is waiting in Galilee. In Matthew, Immanuel, the "I Am" is with his followers until the end of the age. In the Lukan narrative, the first book, the gospel is about Jesus. The second, the Acts of the Apostles, is about the Risen Christ working through the Spirit. In John, Jesus is alive whenever and wherever one offers one's life for a friend.

Historians tell us that most of Paul's letters were written in the 50's. The Gospels, 20 to 50 years after.

It is also fascinating to note that in the gospels, the announcement that Jesus has been raised come to from a young man, two men, an angel, and even Jesus himself (in John). The number of women who came to the tomb vary, the only constant being Mary Magdalene. And in Luke and John's accounts, no one recognizes the Risen Christ when they first encounter him.

Why so many interpretations? Because diversity is the most important gift from God. God did not create duplicates. But more importantly, the breadth and depth of God's grace defy boundaries and borders.

In the end, to believe in the resurrection is to live lives believing that goodness will always conquer evil; that hope is stronger than despair; that faith will always triumph over fear; that love is more powerful than indifference; and that life will always, always, conquer death!

LAST WORDS

Last words are important to many of us.

Famous last words include Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” and Antonio Luna’s “P---- Ina!” My late mother's last words to me, when we were in the very cold Emergency Room of the Philippine Heart Center, were: "Anak mainit, paypayan mo ako." My father’s last text message to me was: “Thank you.”

And, of course, the most famous last words ever memorialized would be Jesus’s as found in the gospels: Mark and Matthew have one; Luke has three; and John has three. Many Christians do not read the Bible. We read books about the Bible and parts of the Bible. If the Gospels were movies, the way most of us “read” is akin to watching only parts of a movie, not the whole show. Now, who among us only watch parts of a movie or telenovela--5 minutes of Black Panther or 10 minutes of FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano?

The Gospels are complete narratives. I propose studying Jesus’s Last Words based on that fundamental assumption. In other words, if Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John were movies or telenovelas, then Jesus’s dying words play important roles in how the stories play out.

MATTHEW

If one reads Mark and Matthew from beginning to end, one will discover that both narratives privilege Galilee as locus of God’s activity. Most of Jesus’s healing, teaching, and preaching ministry happen in Galilee. In the Matthean and Markan narrative Jerusalem is bad news. Jesus is betrayed in Jerusalem. Jesus is arrested, tortured, and executed in the Holy City. Jesus dies in Jerusalem. One can even argue that God forsakes Jesus in Jerusalem, thus at the point of death he cries, “Eli, Eli lama sabacthani?” or “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Many of us who grew up in church and in Sunday school remember the countless number of Bible verses we memorized. Many of us hated the ritual. I know I did when I was growing up. We thought those verses were useless until something happened in our lives and then the verses suddenly took on a life all their own. The Jesus of Matthew was rooted in the Hebrew Scripture. At the lowest point in his life, near death, Jesus was not blaming God. He was quoting Scripture. Psalm 22 to be exact.

I have witnessed people pass from this life to the life beyond and quite a few were quoting scripture. Remember that Matthew does not end with Jesus dying on the cross. The gospel ends with God raising Jesus from the dead. Psalm 22 begins with despair but ends with triumph and an affirmation of faith in a God who saves; a God who liberates. Especially the least among the least. Go and read it. Jesus’ last words in Matthew celebrate the promise of Immanuel. In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone. God is with us. Always.

MARK

In Mark, Jesus cries, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani” and dies. Unlike Matthew, the risen Jesus does not appear in the ending. Check your Bibles. The gospel ends in 16:8, where we find women silent and afraid. What we have in the story is a young man who tells the women that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee and will be waiting for them there. Jesus is not in the tomb. He is not in Jerusalem. He is not where we want him to be. He is back in Galilee where his ministry began. And he is waiting for us there. And we are afraid. Why?

Because we know that this path will eventually lead to the cross. We know that following Jesus will lead to suffering and, yes, death. Unlike Matthew, Luke, and John where we find beautiful stories of the resurrection—Jesus appears to Magdalene, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, by the beach and eats breakfast with his followers, Mark offers a young man with a confirmation of a promise – Jesus is risen just as he told you. We do not see Jesus. We are told to believe he is risen. And it is only in going back to Galilee, in places we do not want to go, in ministering among the poorest and the most oppressed, that we will eventually find him. The last words of Jesus in Mark are dying words. The gospel does not end with Jesus’ triumphant words as a risen Lord but with a young man’s affirmation of God’s resurrection power: that hope is stronger than despair, that faith is greater than fear, that love is more powerful than indifference, and that life will always, always conquer death.

“He has been raised. He is not here!” Do we believe the young man’s words?

LUKE

Many Filipinos love the Gospel according to Luke. I read somewhere that our favorite parables are The Prodigal Son and The Good Samaritan. Both come from Luke. A lot of the scriptural support for the Roman Catholic Church’s theology of preferential option for the poor is based on Luke. God is definitely pro-poor in Luke. Jesus’s birth is announced to poor shepherds. Jesus's first sermon, which almost gets him killed, is a proclamation of good news to the poor. And this God who loves the poor so much is most often described as a loving parent. From Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, to Mary, the mother of Jesus, to the Father of the Prodigal Son who waited patiently for his son’s return, to Father Abraham who takes poor Lazarus into his bosom… the Gospel of Luke reminds us, offers us metaphors of God’s unconditional love as parent. At the cross, two of Jesus’s last three words in Luke are addressed to his father. Jesus says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” If God is our parent and we are all God’s children, then we should ACT as brothers and sisters. This means not behaving like the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, or like the Rich Man in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. This means acting like the Good Samaritan who did not consider the wounded Jew as an enemy but as a brother. Jesus in Luke challenges his followers to love their enemies and to do good to those who hate them. Jesus set the example.

We call ourselves Jesus’s followers, but do we really follow? If Jesus is our "Kuya" then our words and our deeds should remind others of our "kuya." Bombing Afghanistan, invading Iraq, trampling on Philippine sovereignty in the guise of "visiting rights"-- are Jesus's brothers and sisters supposed to do these things? Jesus says to one of the criminals crucified with him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Filipinos are social creatures. The worst punishment for Filipinos is solitary confinement. Many Filipinos turn on radios and televisions when they are alone, not to listen or watch, but simply to create a semblance of community. God’s salvation is a community project. No one can be a Christian alone. When God saves, God saves communities and peoples. To celebrate the incarnation is to celebrate that God has left heaven to be with us. So no one lives and dies alone. God is with us. In the midst of death on the cross, Jesus reminds his fellow victim that he is not alone. “Hindi siya nag-iisa.”

Then Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke follows Mark and Matthew’s lead here. Jesus also quotes an Old Testament Psalm. In this case Psalm 31. It is also like Psalm 22, a Psalm of deliverance. Jesus believed in a God who will never forsake. And God does not forsake Jesus. Many of us pray Jesus's prayer before we sleep at night. We commit everything to God, yet we stay up all night thinking of so many things only God has control over. Let us follow Jesus. Even in death, he knew that he was safe in God’s hands. We are never alone. We will never, ever, be alone.

JOHN

If one reads the Gospel of John from start to finish one will discover that the story celebrates the discipleship of the unnamed. In other words, the most effective followers of Jesus in the story have no names. The Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well, who runs to her people to share her experience with Jesus, is unnamed. The young boy who offers the five loaves and two fish so that Jesus can feed over five thousand people is also unnamed. The beloved disciple who plays a role bigger than Peter’s in the story is also unnamed. But most important of all, the only disciple who we find at the beginning and at the end of Jesus’s life is also unnamed: Jesus’s mother.

We find the two—Jesus’s mother and the beloved disciple—at the foot of the cross. Jesus says to them, “Woman behold your son; behold your mother.” Jesus asks that his two faithful disciples take care of each other. Love is the key theme of the Gospel of John. God became human because of love. The world is supposed to be blessed by our love for each other. Jesus in John leaves his followers only one commandment—for us to love one another as Jesus loved us. Mothers behold your sons; sons behold your mothers; parents behold your children; children behold your parents. We are members of the family of God and our primary task is to live in love for each other, like a family: each one willing to offer one’s life for the other.

Then Jesus says, “I thirst.” Again, in the Johannine story, particularly in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus is the Living Water. Thus, many people find it puzzling that the one who says he is Living Water is suddenly thirsty. And he is given vinegar by his executioners. Like Matthew’s, Mark’s, and Luke’s quotations, John’s “I thirst” represents a quote from the Old Testament--Psalm 69. Faith draws strength from the past. Like Daniel’s three friends who faced death yet believed in a God who will deliver them as God has delivered in the past, Jesus affirms the same unwavering faith in a deliverer God. And God did deliver Daniel’s three friends. And God delivered David (who wrote the Psalm). And Jesus believed God will deliver him, as well.

Then Jesus says, “It is finished.” The End. Jesus is dead. Remember the only commandment Jesus left his followers in the Gospel of John—greater love hath no one than this, that one offers one’s life for another? Jesus does exactly that. His life was an offering. And we are challenged to do the same. At the beach Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Jesus… We are asked the same thing. Can we love as Jesus loved? Jesus was not alone when he faced the cross. And his last words on the cross affirmed his faith in God, in people, in the transforming power of love and life, and empowered him to face death.

Psalm 22 which Jesus quotes in Matthew and Mark, Psalm 69 which he quotes in John, and Psalm 31 which he quotes in Luke celebrate a God who delivers, a God who liberates, a God who will always take the side of the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed, a God who will not forsake us. And God did not forsake Jesus.

And God will never forsake us.

[Based on the Tagalog version preached at Binan UCCP.]

Why Jerusalem?

Over twenty years ago I had the privilege to attend a meeting of the Jesus Seminar. There I met John Dominic Crossan, NT Wright, Marriane Sawicki, Robert Miller, and Marcus Borg.

During the meeting I asked the group why did Jesus need to go to Jerusalem? His Galilee-based movement was doing great. Going to Jerusalem was suicide. Even his disciples knew this. They did not want to him to go to Jerusalem. It did not make sense. But Jesus went anyway.

Crossan volunteered John 7 where Jesus's brothers tell him, "No one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world!"

We all know how this story ends.

Gabriela Silang did not need to take over leadership after Diego was assassinated in 1763. Jose Rizal did not need to go back the Philippines in 1892. Bonifacio did not need to go to the Magdalo camp in Cavite in 1896. Ernesto Che Guevara did not need to go to Bolivia in 1967. We also know how these stories ended.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem with over 5000 people, mostly farmers and fisherfolk, waving palm branches, Pontius Pilate entered the city from the opposite direction. With a Roman Legion. 6000 professional soldiers. Jesus did not need to go to Jerusalem. But he did anyway.

First came a movement. Then an execution. But surprise of surprises, the movement continues. To this day! Thus, movement, execution, continuation. But the greatest of these is continuation.

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