Passage
Matthew16: 16
"Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.""
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It is the Palm Sunday today. It is the day to commemorate the day when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on a colt and the first day of the Passion Week. It was five days before Jesus took the cross.
Jesus was coming down from the Mount of Olives to the city of Jerusalem riding on a colt. People surrounded and followed Him. People laid their robes or palm branches on the road He was traveling.Waving the palm branches in their hands, both children and grown adults shouted 'Hosanna!'
Luke 19: 37-38 depicts this scene saying, "As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!""
But in just five days this shout of Hosanna changed into a shout to crucify Him. Now, let's briefly retrace the footsteps of Jesus from this point and the week that follows, until He died on the cross and resurrected.
A day in Judea was from sunset to the next sunset. However, let me explain the footsteps of Jesus in the concept of our time of a day for your better understanding.
On the first day, which was a Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cheers of the people.On Monday, the next day, Jesus purified the Jerusalem Temple.He drove out the merchants from the Temple and overturned the tables of the money-exchangers and those who were selling doves.
On Tuesday He went into the Temple and taught the people. The high priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people came to Jesus and asked Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?" They asked many questions to find fault in Him. But they didn't have anything to say after Jesus gave them answers that had authority. Jesus also tried to give them understanding through many parables. But after that, the high priests and Pharisees wanted to kill Him even more.
On Wednesday, Mary of Bethany,the sister of Lazarus, came with a very costly oil of spikenard and poured it on Jesus' head. About this, in Matthew 26:13 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."In Mark 14:8 Jesus taught the spiritual meaning in her actions, saying, "She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial."However,Judas Iscariot didn't like this and he went to the high priests and promised them to hand over Jesus.
On Thursday evening Jesus had the Passover dinner in the city of Jerusalem with His disciples. After the dinner, He went to Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives to pray. Before taking the cross, He prayed so earnestly with all His strength that His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. After He finished praying, He was arrested by the people who were brought by Judas Iscariot. The disciples were alarmed and fled.
Jesus was taken to Annas, the high priest. Now, it passed midnight and it had become Friday. Then Jesus was sent to Caiaphas the high priest, then to the council. And then He stood before Pilate, the governor of Judea. But Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at the time, saying that Jesus was a Galilean, and that the case was under the jurisdiction of Herod who was ruling over Galilee. But Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate and finally, Jesus received the death sentence from Pilate.
Beginning sometime late Thursday night until around 9 AM Friday, He was taken here and there as he was questioned. He also received harsh scourging with so much contempt and mockery. After that, He climbed up to Golgotha carrying the cross, and six hours later He was hung on the cross and at around 3 PM He died. But on the third day, in the early morning on Sunday, He overcame death and resurrected.
Dear brothers and sisters, beginning from today,
This week is the Passion Week during which we think of the sufferings of the Lord. I hope you will meditate on these footsteps of Jesus,and spend a godly and holy time taking into account the contents of the Four Gospels. We should also participate in the sufferings of the Lord on Good Friday and fast at least one meal.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Jesus gave everything He had, until He took the wretched cross on this earth. It was because He loves you and me. What kind of love is the Lord's love?
In this message, let us consider it in two aspects.
The Lord's love is, first, the love to give again and again.
Generally people give when they love somebody, but generally they give only within their own limits. There is love between man and woman, husband and wife, parents and children, and among brothers. There are many kinds of love. But it's not easy to find love that keeps on giving until the end.
Sometimes we hear some moving love stories where they give their lives for others, but it's a case where they love each other very much. If people don't even know that the other person lovesthem, and if he only does the things they hate, would we be able to find anybody who would still love him until they give their lives?Do you have the love with which you'd be able to give everything you have and even your life for others?
That's what our Lord did. We did not remotely love Him first before He loved us. He did not love us because we had given Him something great. We didn't know the Lord's love. We were going in a way that was opposite to the way of God. We even crucified the Lord who came to this earth for us. And still He gave even the last drop of blood for such sinners as we.
Brothers and sisters,
During His life on this earth for 33 years, He did not live for Himself even for a moment. Even while He was preparing for His ministry, He concentrated on spiritual preparation to fulfill His duty. During His actual ministry, He did not have enough time to sleep or eat. He taught the souls and healed the sick day and night, and if there was any more time He spent it for His disciples. And yet, He always spared the time for habitual prayer before the Father. He gave His whole life for you and me, for all the souls.
As I walk the way of a servant of the Lord, I tried to follow this example of the Lord. I gave up enjoying my time with family; the time for refreshing or recharging myself; or seeing or eating or doing the things that I wanted to do. I just gave myself before the Father and for the souls. As the size of the ministry got bigger, I had to give up even the time to be with my beloved souls in order to go deeper into spiritual world and to accomplish greater things for the kingdom of God. Furthermore, I've been fulfilling the measure of justice for the souls until all my life-force is drained. I had to encounter so many occasions where my whole body was melting down, without even knowing where the end was.
But every time, I thought of the Lord. I did not say it was hard or overwhelming, because I was only following the way of the Lord. I encouraged myself thinking it's the way of glory and gave thanks. I also thought about how happy and comforted I would be if there was somebody who could feel this love to give everything. After all, isn't God the Father cultivating human beings to gain such true children, the kind of children who would understand the Father's love and share it forever?
I hope you will certainly understand His love. You can change when you feel the Lord's love with which He forsook the heavenly glory and came down to this earth to give everything for us. God the Father lets you see all the things that take place to me in the process of fulfilling the measures of justice. It's to show you the visible evidence of the Father's love and the Lord's love for you.
Many of you changed as you felt this love that gives again and again, which was shown through me. Even today, to the extent that I fulfill more measure of justice, you will get more chances of changing. I hope all of you will realize the Lord's love of giving again and again and come forth as true children who pay back His love.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Lord's love, secondly, is the love that causes the fruition of heavenly hope.
The gospel that Jesus preached was the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. He said He would go to Heaven, prepare a place for us, and come back to take us there. To His disciples, He gave them the hope of eating and drinking with Him at the same table in His kingdom. And so that they could take hold of Heaven by force with such hope, He continuously taught them with words of God and confirmed the words with signs and wonders. He led them in a way that they could actually come forth as fruits of Heaven. This is true love.
Brothers and sisters, let me give you an allegory. Suppose a teacher loves one of his students very much. He gives this student a dream to get into Harvard University. He encouraged him saying, "You can go to Harvard if you just try hard. Harvard is such a good university. You will have so many privileges. You must go to Harvard."But would the student be able to go to Harvard just because he was encouraged?
Can we say the teacher really loves his student just because he is encouraging him with so many words?If this teacher really loves his student, he should not just plant hope in him, but he has to provide him with substantial help so that he can actually go to Harvard. So, when the student actually gets accepted by Harvard, it is the fruition of the fact that the teacher actually loves his student.
In the same way, Jesus did not only give them hope of Heaven but also guided them with substantial deeds so the souls could actually go to Heaven. Because that generation wouldn't believe unless they saw signs and wonders, Jesus showed them God's power continually, so they could have faith and take hold of Heaven by force.
Also, through many parables and allegories, He tried to let them understand the spiritual realm as if they'd actually seen it. He showed them the way to go to Heaven as to what kinds of heart and deeds they had to have. He strictly warned them against the way opposite of Heaven. Furthermore, He prayed for the souls with tears, and set an example in everything for them.
Eventually, He died on the cross and resurrected, and sent to us the Helper the Holy Spirit. John 16:7 says, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." In fact, we have come to have a great advantage thanks to the Holy Spirit.
If it weren't for the grace of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who helps us to be on the right track toward Heaven, it wouldn't have been easy for us to actually reach the heavenly doorby keeping our salvation, even after accepting the Lord. It wouldn't have been easy to be borne as Heaven's fruit. The Holy Spirit sometimes intercedes and groans for us, and He works for us in various ways so that we can actually stay on this way toward Heaven. We have to remember this fact.
Brothers and sisters,
I know better than anybody about Heaven as well as Hell. God has let me know even very deep things about Heaven in detail. I can't tell you everything I know, but there are many secrets that can give you true hope once you hear it with true faith. Because I know Heaven is such a good place, I'd really like us to be there together. That is why I've already let you know many secrets of Heavenly kingdom. It's because I want you to run your race of faith vigorously having the hope for New Jerusalem.
However, you couldn't follow me in this walk of faith just by being given hope. For this reason, to let you see the fruition of your heavenly hope, I've tried to lead you to New Jerusalem in various ways. I shed tears, repented on your behalf countless times, taught you with God's words, pleaded with you, comforted you, soothed you, gave you various things, harbored you, and I did everything I could.
I tried to express Heaven to the best I am able so that you can sense it as if you were actually seeing and touching it.I made a 3D video of the shepherd's castle and showed it to you and I decorated my prayer house like Paradise and the 1st Kingdom of Heaven and invited you. This is also to give you hope of Heaven as much as I can. Why am I doing this? It's because I sincerely and desperately hope that you will come forth as fruits of New Jerusalem and furthermore fruits in the castle of the shepherd.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
We've looked into the two aspects of the Lord's love today. First, it is the love that gives again and again, and second, it is the love to make our heavenly hope come true. In today's reading passagePeter was the one who saw and experienced this love of Jesus in close proximity. It was before he received the Holy Spirit, so he wasn't able to realize the Lord's love completely in his heart. But, he felt and experienced Jesus's love firsthand, more than anybody else. And he realized who this Jesus was, considering what kind of love Jesus could give.
Of course, it is not that he realized it on his own, but it is the Father God who let him realize it. It was not the era of the Holy Spirit yet, but Peter realized it by the work of the Holy Spirit. For this reason Peter made such a tremendous profession saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And now we are in the era of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. Can we say the love you saw, heard about, and felt was any less than that felt by Peter?You've been taught about the love and heart of the Father God and the Lord through so many messages. Also, God showed His heart and love to you through your shepherd.
Now, what kind of profession will you make? Do you really confess that the Lord is your personal Savior and the Son of the living God?If your confession is true, your life will certainly change. It has to change.
After seeing the resurrection of the Lord, how did the disciples change?As they came to believe Jesus is really the Christ, their lives were completely turned around. Peter offered the rest of his life for the Lord and proved that his previous profession he made to the Lord was true.
As the ones who have received the true love of the Lord, I hope you will also come forth as perfect fruits to pay back His love. In so doing, may you become the fruit of beautiful New Jerusalem and share true love forever with the Father God, the Lord, and with me, too, I pray this in the name of the Lord!
2016-03-22 Posted
2016-04-14 Updated
