The Resurrection

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0:30 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish? My God, I call by day, but you do not answer. By night, but I have no relief. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One. You are the glory of Israel. And you, our ancestors trusted, they trusted, and you rescued them. To you they cried out, and they escaped. In you they trusted, and were not disappointed. But I am a worm, hardly human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me, mock me. They curl their lips and jeer.

1:24 They shake their heads at me. You relied on the Lord. Let Him deliver you. If He loves you, let Him rescue you. Yet you drew me forth from the womb, made me safe at my mother's breast. Upon you I was thrust from the womb. Since birth, you are my God. Do not stay far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me. Fierce bulls of Bashan encircle me. They open their mouths against me. Lions that grin and roar. Like water my life drains away. All my bones grow soft. My heart has become like wax. It melts away within me. As dry as a potsherd is my throat. My tongue sticks to my palate. You lay me in the dust of death.

2:13 Many dogs surround me. A pack of evildoers closes in on me. So wasted are my hands and feet that I can count all my bones. They stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among them. From my clothing they cast lots. But you, Lord, do not stay far off. My strength come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword. My forlorn life from the teeth of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth. My poor life from the horns of wild bulls. Then I will proclaim your name to the assembly. In the community I will praise you. You who fear the Lord give praise. All descendants of Jacob give honor. Show reverence all descendants of Israel. For God has not spurned. Or disdained the misery of this poor wretch.

3:02 Did not turn away from me. But heard me when I cried out. I will offer praise in the great assembly. My vows I will fulfill before those who fear him. The poor will eat their fill. Those who seek the Lord will offer praise. May your hearts enjoy life forever. All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the Lord. All the families of nations will bow low before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord. The ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God. All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the Lord. My descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord. That they may proclaim to a people yet unborn. The deliverance.

3:52 You have brought. Lord Jesus Christ. Be present now. And let your Holy Spirit bow. All hearts and love and truth today. To hear your word and keep your way. Give us the grace to grasp your word. That we may do what we have heard. Instruct us through the scriptures, Lord. As we draw near, O God adored. To God the Father and the Son. And the Holy Spirit, three in one. To you, O blessed Trinity, be praised throughout eternity. Amen.

4:41 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I began with Psalm 22, which our Lord quotes from the cross. He quotes the first line of Psalm 22 in Aramaic. Our Lord quoted this first line because he wanted to evoke the entire psalm. This is how Jews would quote scripture. They would quote scripture so that when they would quote a certain piece of scripture, they're evoking the entire context. And with psalms, they would do this oftentimes by quoting that first line. And so you can see how Psalm 22 is very prophetic of the death that our Lord experienced upon the cross.

5:37 Well, you may have heard, or it may have jumped out at you, the verse where it says, they divide my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots. This happened at the foot of the cross when the Roman soldiers noticed that Jesus had a garment on that was seamless. It had no seams. And so they couldn't, like, undo it. So they cast lots for it to fulfill Psalm 22. And we're told in the Gospels that this happened. And we see that our Lord was not forsaken by God, but our Lord had a great trust in God. And God is with him the entire time. And our Lord trusts in the vindication that's to come. And this vindication happens at the resurrection. So Psalm 22 is not just a psalm about the cross.

6:27 It's also a psalm about the resurrection. And that's why I began by praying it. Because, well, today is Ash Wednesday, and so we're really focusing upon Lent, penance, and growing in prayer, fasting, and acts of charity, growing closer to our Lord. Do you guys know where Lent started? Where we get Lent from? Why we have it at all in the church? Yes. Yes, it's definitely tied up with penance. The Lent began... Actually, the word Lent is an old German word that became an English word. And it means spring. And at one point in time, it meant nothing more than spring. But we now use it to refer to this season in the church. Because in the early church, there were a lot of Christians who were just becoming Christian. And the church was worried that these people would just easily fall away.

7:23 That, you know, it was just kind of a popular thing to become Christian. Is everybody else just becoming Christian, you know? So the church wanted to have these people who were becoming Christian to undergo a period of preparation And so this was primarily designed for the right of Christian initiation of adults in the early church. And then as time went on, everybody else is going, why do they get to do this? Can't we do it? I mean, can't we have like a renewal of our Christian baptismal promises? Can't we do something? So Lent is the church joining in with the catechumens and the candidates during this 40-day period of preparation. And Lent, by the way, is not exactly 40 days.

8:27 It's around 40 days. One time I had someone ask me, how is Lent 40 days? Was this, this? And I went, well, it's 40 days. And then he showed me the calendar. We went, we looked through it, and we're like, yeah, it's not exactly 40 days. What in the heck? But then we were like, you know, it's just a round. So today we're covering chapter 22. The topic is the resurrection. And, of course, as in all things, let's begin with the Old Testament. Let's turn back to Ezekiel chapter 37. Ezekiel chapter 37. We've covered this before, but I'm going to bring it back up again. And we're going to renew our reading of it so we can have a fresh start. We can take a fresh start from Ezekiel 37. Now, as you guys have noticed in the scripture study, over and over again, I'm continually showing you how the New Testament is showing how there's a fulfillment of the Old Testament.

9:30 And we've been seeing, especially last week, that there's a new exodus occurring. And I followed this new exodus theme quite closely in these previous chapters. Because the book has. And the book has because scripture does. And so remember, the first exodus, Israel was in Egypt, you know, enslaved in Egypt. And then through Moses and the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, Israel was delivered across the Red Sea, which destroyed the Egyptian soldiers and Pharaoh, to the foot of Mount Sinai, where they made a covenant with God. They were fed by manna in the wilderness as they wandered for 40 years. And then they eventually crossed the Jordan River into the promised land.

10:24 That was the first exodus. The prophets tell us that there's going to be a new exodus. That later on in the promised land, you know, Israel grew and became a kingdom under David. There was a covenant made with David called the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7. The Davidic Covenant was made in 2 Samuel 7. And David's son, Solomon, ruled after him. But when Solomon died in 930 B.C., that kingdom split into the north and the south. And so in the northern kingdom, you had ten tribes with some Levites. And in the southern kingdom, you had two tribes with some Levites. The northern kingdom was conquered by Assyria in 722 B.C. And was sent off into exile to be intermarried and intermixed among the Gentiles. Those who remained became Samaritans.

11:15 They were intermixed and intermarried with those whom Assyria imported into the land. And then later on in 586 B.C., Babylon did the same thing, but not quite as bad, to the southern kingdom. But they retained their national identity. They went off into Babylonian exile and some of them came back. And those are who we know as the Jews. They consist mostly of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Benjamin being a very small tribe, Judah being very large. And then the Levites who lived among them. And so the prophets say that just as you had this first exodus, where Israel was brought out of Egypt. So in the new exodus, God is going to take his people, all 12 tribes of Israel, out of the foreign nations. Out of the foreign nations.

12:08 He's going to bring them back into the land. He's going to reunite them into one kingdom. He's two kingdoms. He's going to reunite into one kingdom with the Gentiles. Underneath the Davidic king, the son of David, who is known as the Messiah, the anointed one. This is what the prophets prophesy. And here we're going to start Ezekiel 37 verse 1. And we're going to be, and Ezekiel is talking about this new exodus. Okay, Barbara, you want to begin in 37.1 and just keep reading to verse 14. Okay. The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me in the center of the plain, which was now filled with bones. He made me walk among them in every direction, so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain.

13:07 How dry they were. He asked me, Son of man, can these bones come to life? Lord God, I answered, you alone know that. Then he said to me, prophesy over these bones, and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones, see, I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you, so that you may come to life, and know that I am the Lord. I prophesied as I had been told, and even as I was prophesying, I heard a noise. It was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone.

14:01 I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them. Then he said to me, prophesy to the spirit, prophecy, son of man, and say to the spirit, Thus says the Lord God, from the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain, that they may come to life. I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them. They came alive and stood upright, a vast army. Then he said to me, son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They have been saying, our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.

14:55 Therefore, prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God, O my people, I will open your graves, and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and have you rise from them, O my people. I will put my spirit in you, that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord. Thank you. Okay, so, the Israelites, or the Jews, more specifically, those primarily from Judah, and then those Benjaminites and Levites who came back from exile in Babylon, they had a belief in the resurrection of the dead.

16:03 Those who didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead were the Sadducees. But everybody else believed in the resurrection of the dead. And the resurrection of the dead is going to happen at the end of time. At the end of time. And so here's the beginning of time with the creation. And then we're going to have the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. And what Ezekiel does is he talks about this great event to come, within time, not at the final resurrection, but within time, he talks about the reunification of Israel, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. And this is what he does in the rest of Ezekiel 37. He's talking, starting in verse 15, about the two sticks. One represents the northern kingdom. One represents the southern kingdom.

16:50 You know, the first one represents, I believe it's like Israel. The other one represents Jacob. And so, but they're going to be bound together. They're going to come back together under the Messiah. And Ezekiel uses the metaphorical figure of resurrection to talk about this restoration of the people back into one kingdom. Resurrection, you know, the knee bone is connected to the, I don't know, what is it? Thigh bone, leg bone. How does it go? The shin bone is connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone is connected to the foot bone. The foot bone is connected to the toe bone?

17:41 Whatever it is. The trombone. Okay, so that's, you know, that famous, that famous, you know, that's, that's Ezekiel talking about the coming together. He says that the spirit is going to come from the four winds. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, it talks about how Israel was exiled to the four winds, or the four corners. That's a way of saying that every part of the world, you know, it's a metaphorical way of saying the world, the entire world. And so he says that the spirit's going to come from, you know, the four winds, and he's going to give life to this body, you know, Israel. Well, what happened with the resurrection is that what's supposed to happen at the end of time, I guess I should take off this little line after this star, because that's the end of time, happened in the middle of time, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

18:37 And so when the resurrection happened, the apostles and Paul were going, whoa! I mean, what happened at the end of time just happened. What's going on? I mean, the resurrection happened, but not to all of us. It happened to this one guy in particular, Jesus, the Messiah. And so we have Ezekiel being fulfilled, and Ezekiel foresaw a resurrection under the figure of the resurrection, the restoration of the people. So with the resurrection of Jesus, this is saying to us, it's time for the restoration. The 12 tribes of Israel are coming back together now that a resurrection has occurred. Let's turn to John 20, the end of John's gospel.

19:34 John has 21 chapters. We're going to turn to John 20. We're going to turn to John 20, verse 19. So in John 20, verse 19, this is Easter Sunday. This is the day Jesus rose from the dead, which is, I guess, about six weeks from now. So we're just beginning Lent. So this is Easter Sunday. It's that day. Thomas is not with the 11. Remember, Judas Iscariot has defected. So we have 11 left. Thomas, called Didymus, is not there. And we read in verse 19, on the evening of that first day of the week, Sunday was known as the first day of the week. When the doors were locked, where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you.

20:34 Wow. They have the doors locked. They have the doors locked. Jesus appears. He's resurrected. It says, peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. He repeats it again. Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them. And whose sins you retain are retained. John, when he gives this account of Jesus appearing to his apostles, and the first thing he says is, peace be with you.

21:25 Then he says, peace be with you again. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. He breathed on them. And when John says he breathed on them, he uses a special Greek word, infusau. The transliteration would be E-M-P-H-U-S-A-O. Infusau. And infusau, which means, you know, to breathe upon, is only used one time in the Septuagint, which we symbolize with LXX, the Roman numeral for 70. And Septuagint is the Greek for 70. So the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which the apostles and our Lord used, only uses infusau once in the entire Old Testament. And John knows this, and so he uses this special verb at this point in his gospel. Because he's wanting us to go back to and to look at where that verb is used in the Old Testament, because it's going to have significance for what John is trying to say.

22:28 So let's turn back there. Does anybody know where it is? All you who have read your Septuagint? You know, you're good first century Jews, you know, you read and you write Greek, where is infusau used? Yes, how'd you know that? I told you already. Wow. Wow, I keep repeating myself. That's great. Let's turn to Genesis 2.7. Genesis 2.7. I'm glad you were listening that first time. This is talking about the creation of Adam. Genesis 2.7. The Lord God formed Adam out of the Adama. Translation, the Lord God formed man, Adam, out of the clay of the ground.

23:21 The Adama. There's a play on words. And blew into his nostrils the breath of life. And so man became a living being. Now, this gift wasn't given to all the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. So does this mean that they're not alive? But only Adam was breathed into by God and was given the breath of life. He became a living being. So were the animals not living beings? The idea is God is breathing spirit. He's breathing his own divine life into Adam. So Adam is divinized in a certain sense. He's made a son of God, Luke tells us in the third chapter of his gospel. He traces Jesus' genealogy all the way back to Adam.

24:12 But not just back to Adam, but to God. He says, was the son of Adam, was the son of God. Adam got divine sonship, this gift of divine life. The Lord God infusa'o upon Adam. And so Jesus in the resurrection, infusa'o upon his apostles. He gives them the divine life of the resurrection. And remember, what caused the exile? What caused Israel to go into exile? Sin. Sin caused them to go into exile. So if we're having this resurrection, which is going to be the restoration of Israel, the end of exile, taking the people out of exile, a new exodus, then what has to happen? Sin has to be forgiven.

25:05 Sin has to be forgiven. So the restoration is going to be equated with the forgiveness of sins. And so Jesus, the first thing he does is he breathes the spirit into them, just like Ezekiel said the spirit was going to come upon Israel. And he says to them, as the father has sent me, so I send you. And this is where we get the term apostle from, one who is sent, apostolos. And so Jesus is going around, he's forgiving people's sins. People are going, blasphemy, how can you do that? And Jesus makes a paralytic rise and walk to prove that he has this authority. And then he gives the same authority to his apostles. And what are we supposed to get from this? If he's giving this authority to his apostles, what are his apostles going to be doing?

25:57 Forgiving sins. And when they forgive sins, what's happening? The restoration. Right. When the apostles go out and start forgiving sins, we have the end of sin, the end of exile, the restoration of the people under the ministry of the apostles. This is the Old Testament background of John's gospel. This is what John is expecting for you to get. Because you know you're Ezekiel 37, you know you're Genesis, you know the story of salvation history. And if this restoration from exile is happening, who needs to be converted? The Gentiles. Yeah. Just like the prophet said were going to happen. Because who's also among the Gentiles? The ten tribes from the northern kingdom that were exiled by Assyria and assimilated among the Gentiles.

26:49 So Paul's ministry, Paul is called the apostle to the what? The Gentiles. And when Paul talks about his ministry in Romans 9 through 11. Romans 9 through 11 is a special section in Romans. When Paul talks about his ministry to the Gentiles, he starts quoting from specific passages in the Old Testament like Hosea, which talks about how these northern tribes are being exiled and how they're going to come back and become God's people once again. Because Paul saw his ministry to the Gentiles, not as just to Gentiles, but also to Israel. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 9.

27:39 Matthew chapter 9. Verse 1. I'm going to go ahead and write it up here on the board. Matthew 9. Verse 1. Okay. God bless you. That's one thing I loved about going to a small private Catholic university. You'd be in class and someone would sneeze and they got about ten blessings all at once. It was great. Right as I went to Texas A&M and we had a class of about 360, you know, in this big auditorium, you sneeze, it's just silence. So, it's quite a different atmosphere. Okay, it says, Jesus entered a boat, made the crossing, and came to his own town.

28:29 Capernaum, basically, in Galilee. And there, people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a stretcher. Now, notice it says that he went to his own town. This is a detail that Matthew gives us. What's his own town I just told you? Capernaum. And Capernaum, remember, is in Galilee, in a strategic location at the top of the Sea of Galilee, where the northern ten tribes started getting exiled by Assyria. The region of Zebulun and Naphtali. So, Jesus is going to do something in his base location, which is a very, it's a geographic, has, you know, what are the three greatest points to a great business? You know, location, location, location. Well, this is Jesus. Location, location, location. He's doing this in his own town in Capernaum because this is where the exile began.

29:20 And he says, and there, people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a stretcher. Kind of like the bones in Ezekiel, you know, kind of can't really get up, can't really move. And he says, courage, child, your sins are forgiven. So, what does he do? He forgives sin at the place where the exile began. At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming. Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise and walk? What does he mean by that? Okay, I'm a new upstart prophet.

30:08 I want for people to start following me. Barbara, your sins are forgiven. Ha ha, see? See, I just forgave her sins. But, yeah, but how do you know that really forgave her sins? How do you know I'm not just making this up? Well, what's easier to say? Your sins are forgiven? Well, that's easy to say. But what's even harder to say? Ha ha, you paralytic, rise and walk. Now you know that our sins are being forgiven. And notice that Jesus' miracles are not just mere philanthropy. He's not just helping people out. You know, good old Jesus. You know, when we become Christians, this doesn't mean that all of a sudden we have no more suffering. His healings have meaning. You know, he wants to say, look, what really needs to be healed is not the body, but the soul. But to let you know that the soul is being healed, I'm going to raise people from being in a paralytic state, from being lame. I'm going to let the mute speak.

31:00 I'm going to let the deaf hear. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And see, he took that title, the Son of Man, from Daniel 7. In Daniel 7, Daniel has a vision. There's one like the Son of Man, who appears in the clouds, and he's seated before the Ancient of Days. And all dominion and kingship is given to the Son of Man. And the Son of Man has this authority, and he shares it with his saints. Daniel 7, Son of Man. He then said to the paralytic, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home. He rose and went home. When the crowd saw this, who were struck with all and glorified God. When the crowd saw this, they were struck with all and glorified God, who had given such authority to Jesus.

31:58 Right? That's what it says, right? No, it says, it says, who had given such authority to this human being. Right? Nope. To many. What do other translations say? To men. To what? So how many Jesuses are there? I thought, I just see one Jesus here. Well, why does it say, given such authority to human beings in the plural? Because guess what's being practiced in the churches that Matthew is an apostle to, who he's, remember context. Who is Matthew writing his gospel to? Is he just writing to anybody out there? Is he just writing a historical account of what Jesus did?

32:47 Or does he have an audience that he's writing to who knows specific things? Yeah. His audience are Jewish Christians. Christians with a very Jewish background. And so these Christians, guess what's being practiced in the Christian community? Auricular confession. Auricular meaning they hear the sins and they forgive them. And so Christians reading this would go, oh yeah, Jesus was given this authority. And let's turn to the end of Matthew's gospel. Matthew chapter 28. Verse 18. This is right before the ascension of Jesus. Matthew 28.18. At the very end of Matthew's gospel. Same gospel. Writing to the same Christians.

33:36 Jesus approached and said to the 11 disciples. The same ones to whom he appeared in the upper room on the night of the resurrection. And gave this authority to forgive sins to. He says, all power in heaven on earth has been given to me. He already said in Matthew 9, he's the son of man. Who's the son of man? Whom all authority, kingdom, dominion has been given to in Daniel 7. All power in heaven on earth has been given to me. Go therefore. Go. I'm sending you, your apostles. And make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The sacrament. The oath that's going to allow these people to join the new covenant. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age. In other words, saying I am with you always until the end of the age.

34:28 That's another way of saying, you know, Barbara, I'm going to give you authority over my house. I'm going to let you babysit. I'm going to, my wife and I, we're going to go to the movies. But I'm with you. Okay? I'm with you. Whatever you say, I'm with you. It's a way of saying, I'm giving you authority. These 11, who were given authority to forgive sins, also have this authority we see evidence of in Matthew 9. Let's turn to Matthew 18. Matthew 18. We'll see the same concept. Again, we're still in the same gospel, Matthew's gospel. This is before the resurrection. Jesus is talking about, he's talking to his apostles. He says in Matthew 18, verse 15.

35:22 This is, it's called, my Bible subtitle is it, a brother who sins, but it would rather, I guess a better subtitle would be the recalcitrant sinner. The sinner who won't repent. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. Don't go gossiping about it. Don't go immediately to the pastor. You know, don't go written rating. Don't go blog about it. You know, go privately to that person. Go tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. Praise God. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Matthew is quoting Deuteronomy 19.15, where in the Deuteronomic law, you had to have two or three male witnesses in order to bring judgment against somebody.

36:30 You know, so what's one of the Ten Commandments? Thou shalt not bear false witness. Okay, so here we have, you know, the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him like he was from Somerville. I'm sorry, you guys are from Somerville. I apologize. Treat him like he's from Houston. There we go. Okay. Treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector. I guess if Luke was writing this gospel, who's a Gentile, he probably wouldn't have written it in that same way, right? In other words, treat him like an outsider.

37:17 Treat him like he's not one of the community. Exclude him from fellowship if he's recalcitrant. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And this is a rabbinic way of saying you have authority. You know, what tables you fold shall be folded. What tables you unfold shall be unfolded. What door you shut shall be shut. What door you open shall be opened. We saw this in Isaiah 22. It's a way of saying a positive with a negative. Saying, you know, whichever way it goes, it's your decision. You have authority. And he's speaking again to his disciples. The same ones who are in Matthew 16 with Peter. So he's basically saying, I give you this authority to speak for the church. Verse 19, this is all one narrative.

38:08 These are not separate verses. This is all one narrative. Verse 19, again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. What two or three? But two or three that were just spoken of. The testimony of two or three witnesses. When you have two or three of these people who have the authority to bind and loose, and they're making a judgment as important as excommunication, after they've prayed about it and considered it, and it's a very serious decision. I mean, treating someone as a Gentile or a tax collector is a big deal, guys.

38:56 This is not, you know, small potatoes. Then who, then he's with them. He's with, he gives his authority. There's that judgment. And so when Jesus says to his apostles at the end of Matthew's gospel, lo, I am be with you till the end of the age, it's like saying, you have my blessing. You have my authority. I'm with you. I'm working through your ministry. And so what happens when two Christians lie to Peter in Acts of the Apostles about, you know, giving to the community? Remember Sapphira and what happened to them? What? No, this is the New Testament. People don't die. No, no, it couldn't have happened.

39:42 What do you mean? They were struck dead on the spot. And who did they lie to? Peter. And Peter tells them, you have lied to the Holy Spirit. No, they lied to Peter, not to the Holy Spirit. What are you talking about? Peter, who do you think you are? Hmm. There's some serious authority going on here. The early church had authority. But again, this authority is to extend the effects of the resurrection, to bring about an end to exile. The reunification of Israel. Let's turn to Mark 16. The end of Mark's gospel. Mark 16, verse 19. Mark 16, verse 19.

40:33 This is talking about the ascension. Mark 16, verse 19. I like being at the end of gospels, I guess, today. We're at the end of John, we're at the end of Matthew, Mark. Okay, so, then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to... We're talking about the resurrection, so it has to be at the end of the gospels, right? So then, the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. What does that mean, took his seat at the right hand of God? I mean, he was tired, so he had to sit down. I mean, God, can I sit next to you? This looks like an empty seat. This looks good. What does that mean? Yeah, he has the same power, which is essentially kingship. Jesus is being enthroned.

41:21 To sit at the king's right hand means to share in his authority. We saw this back in 1 Kings, where Bathsheba is given a throne next to Solomon, from which she's going to reign and arbitrate as advocate for the people. She's the queen, mother. So Jesus is seated, so he's enthroned. What throne? Let's turn to Acts of the Apostles, to Pentecost. Let's turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, verse 22. Peter's Pentecostal preaching, Holy Ghost, on fire sermon. Acts 2, 22. This is Peter. Of course, Peter speaks, because Peter is the head of the Apostles. He's their spokesman.

42:09 Do you guys know that Peter is mentioned more in the Gospels than all of the other apostles combined? He's mentioned, I believe, somewhere around 150 times. I could be wrong on that, but I believe it's around 150 he's mentioned. Okay, he stands up. He's like, you guys are horrible. You crucified the Messiah. You bad people. Acts 2, 22. You who are Israelites. And notice he says, Israelites. You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazarene was a man, commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it.

43:03 So he's talking about the resurrection. Remember, the topic is the resurrection. So here, I'm going to go back to Scripture. We're going to look at what Peter says about it. For David says of him, and he quotes Psalm 16, 8 through 11. Peter's quoting the Psalms again. Psalm 16, 8 through 11. And he says, I saw the Lord ever before me. This is David speaking in the Psalms. Peter's quoting David. It's Psalm 16. I saw the Lord ever before me. With him at my right hand, I shall not be disturbed. Therefore, my heart has been glad, and my tongue has exalted. My flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence.

43:52 This is David saying this. You know, God, you won't even let me see shale. I mean, you're not going to let my flesh see corruption. There's going to be... Verse 29. My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch, David, that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. In Jerusalem, there's the tomb of David. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, He foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld, nor did his flesh see corruption. What oath?

44:41 When did God swear an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon the throne? Where did this happen in Scripture? Where? 2 Samuel 7. Which records what covenant? The Davidic covenant. Where God says, you know, I will make sure that your son reigns after you. And if he does wrong, I will correct him with the rod of chastisements. But I will not, you know, basically take away his authority like I did your predecessor Saul, who lost his dynasty because he sinned the second time. But this throne will last forever and ever and ever. So when Jesus rises from the dead, and he goes into heaven, and he sits down at the right hand of God, what throne is he sitting in? Whose throne?

45:39 David's. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. David's throne was in Jerusalem. So who's Peter saying that David's throne is now up in heaven? Remember Jesus? He says, my kingdom is not of this world, else my disciples would be fighting for me. Paul, in the book of Revelation, call the church the new what? The new Jerusalem. So, these prophecies about the Davidic king reigning, and they're being returned to the land, and reunification. Where is the Davidic king reigning from, from an earthly perspective? You're an earthly minded Jew. Where is the Davidic king going to reign? Jerusalem, right? Yeah.

46:26 But if you're interpreting it according to how Jesus interpreted it, and the apostles interpreted it, where is Jesus going to reign? Heaven, which is the new Jerusalem. So, all the promises about returning to the land is essentially pointing to what land? What promised land? Heaven. Which will, in the book of Revelation, come down to earth at the end of time. It's not that earth is done away with. It's that the new Jerusalem comes down to earth, and earth is transformed at the end of time. So, there's somehow that new Jerusalem is going to come down. Wow. Okay, let's go back to verse 31. He foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. Remember, what's the term Messiah?

47:14 The son of David, the anointed one. We keep seeing this over and over again. That neither was he abandoned to the netherworld, nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised this Jesus. Of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God. There it is again. We see, you know, that comes from Mark 16, 19. You know, remember he took his seat at the right hand of God. Exalted at the right hand of God. He received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and poured it forth, as you both see and hear. The Spirit is being poured forth. So, what's happening? According to Ezekiel 37, the Spirit came forth, guys. The Spirit of the resurrection. Jesus resurrected from the dead, went up to heaven, sent the Spirit. The Spirit's coming from the four winds, and it is restoring Israel. You'd be like, restoration?

48:09 What are you talking about? You know? The idea of redemption would take on a different meaning, sort of. It would be dislocated from this idea. But because we know the narrative of salvation history, we're able to read the New Testament in that light, which is how the New Testament authors wrote it, and we can see what's happening with greater clarity. Let's turn to Acts 22, starting in verse 1. Acts 22, verse 1. This is great. I mean, this is wonderful.

49:01 This is like the Orthodox Jewish rabbi in Rome, becoming Catholic. And then going before the Orthodox Jewish community and saying, guys, I was a rabbi. I knew all of what you guys believe. But I encountered Jesus, and so here I am. And come on, come on, guys, come on. I mean, Paul was the cream of the crop. He was the top of his class. This guy knew Scripture front and back. I mean, today I read Scripture commentaries on, like, for instance, Romans, and I get, my head gets twisted. I'm trying to figure, follow the argument. It's so complex. Because Paul really knew what he was doing. He was trained well. But here he is in Acts 22, verse 1.

49:48 By the way, who wrote Acts? Luke. And to whom was Luke a missionary companion? Huh? Paul. Yeah. So Luke is writing about Paul, and where did Luke get his source information from? Paul. Yeah. So even though Paul didn't write this, he might as well have been writing it, because Luke's writing it. My brothers and fathers, listen to what I am about to say to you in my defense. When he heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became all the more quiet. It's like if you came to this parish, and the pastor gets up, and he's like, you know, chest. By the way, that's Polish for hello. You know, he starts speaking in the native tone. Whoa, this guy is one of us.

50:36 Okay. I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, Jerusalem. At the feet of Gamaliel, okay, like the head poncho, this is like saying I studied under Cardinal Ratzinger, you know, I'm, you know, I have great teachers that you respect. I was educated strictly in our ancestral law, and was zealous for God. Remember, we saw what zealousness was, the zealous Pharisees. They want to keep the ceremonial precepts of the law to retain their Jewishness, as opposed to the Hellenistic influences of the, of the, the, who used to be the Greek invaders, and are now kind of the Greek conquerors, and now they're the Romans. I persecuted this way, okay, because the Christians were known as the way, until they were first called Christians, where?

51:31 Antioch. I think it's Acts 17. I'm not quite sure. I persecuted this way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison. Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf, for from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment, those there as well. On that journey, as I drew near to Damascus, about noon, a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the, to the, to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who is Saul persecuting? The Christians who are, who, and, and, you know, Jesus says, you're persecuting me.

52:22 Who is Jesus? I mean, he's the son of whom? The son of Joseph, but ultimately the son of whom? God, but even halfway in between there, he's the son of David. He's David's son, which makes him the Messiah. Do you remember possibly, oh, an Old Testament passage we would have read from, oh, last weekend, oh, which, uh, there was a guy named, oh, Saul, persecuting a guy named, oh, um, David? Do you guys recount this, you know? And, and David has an opportunity, he sneaks in the camp with one of his friends and he has a, his, his companion has a chance to kill Saul. But what does David say? He says, no, don't, don't, don't touch a hair on his head for I, for I will, will not touch, you know, the Lord's anointed. Even though David has been anointed by Samuel, Saul still, you know, is reigning.

53:16 So he says, I won't touch Saul. So, so David goes across, you know, the plain, he gets far away and he goes, hey guys, I almost killed your leader. You guys are really bad guardians. And so we had Saul persecuting David and here we have Saul persecuting David's son, the new Messiah. So you think maybe Paul, who was instructed in the law and he knew his Old Testament, would have maybe seen a connection here? That he, just like Saul, was persecuting the Lord's anointed? Verse 8, I replied, who are you, sir? And he said to me, I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting. My companions saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. Okay, so his companions saw the light, but they didn't hear the voice, only Paul heard the voice.

54:08 By the way, there's no mention of a horse. So if you ever heard of Paul falling off of his horse, you know, get off of your high horse, there's no mention of a horse. That comes from later paintings in the Renaissance, where Saul's Paul falling. He's probably riding a horse, probably got knocked off of a horse, but he doesn't say. I asked, what shall I do, sir? The Lord answered me, get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do. Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus. A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me and stood there and said, Saul, my brother, regain your sight. And at that very moment, I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, the God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,

54:59 to see the righteous one, and to hear the sound of his voice. For you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard. Now, why delay? Get up, have yourself baptized, and your sins washed away, calling upon his name. So, Paul is washed with baptism, has his sins washed away. This is the means by which he enters the new covenant, becomes a Christian. Ananias was probably the minister of that sacrament. Ananias was a devout observer of the law, just like Paul was, so he kind of has like, you know, kind of a mentor in a certain sense to baptize him. Beautiful.

55:46 This is reliable history. This is witness. Paul is a martyr, not just because he died, you know, for the faith, but he's a martus, which in Greek means witness. So, Paul is martusing, he's witnessing to Jesus about the resurrected Jesus. So, let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 is the place to go to read about the resurrection. If people are like, ah, Jesus didn't rise from the dead, what are you talking about? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1.

56:37 So, this should be a very important chapter in your Bible. You should have it all highlighted and underlined and studied very well. Because this is Paul talking about, he recounts again his experience on the road to Damascus, but in much shorter terms. I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1. Now, I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it, you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For Paul, can you have faith in it being in vain? Can you, can you be saved and hold fast to the word, but later it doesn't have an effect for you? Yes.

57:31 This is what he's saying. He's saying, guys, look, and then he'll do this later. Or actually, earlier we saw it in 1 Corinthians 10, when he talks about those who were bitten by serpents. We've already been over that passage quite a bit. For I handed on to you, as of first importance, what I also received. That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. So Paul, when he's talking about this event, it's according to the scriptures. And this doesn't mean that Paul just has a couple of proof texts from the Old Testament that says that somehow our Savior has to die. But he's talking about the whole plan of salvation. All of the scriptures. The whole story. The whole narrative. All of it combined is coming up to this climax.

58:21 That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. That he appeared to who? Cephas. Or Kepha, the Aramaic name for Simon or Peter. Kephas. And Kepha is the Aramaic name for Peter. It means rock. So he appeared to Kepha. To the twelve. By the way, there weren't twelve at that point in time. It's just Iscariot had defected. And so commentators will say, well, those, even just the remaining eleven, were considered the twelve. Because there was an office yet that had to be filled. And then Matthias, Mattathias, Matthias? Matthias.

59:13 Uh, filled that office. Uh, filled that office. We find out in Acts. Well, Mary was there. She would have been the twelve. What? No, she wasn't. Yeah, no, we're not talking about Pentecost. We're talking about just the, just the twelve. Um, after that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once. Big, big, uh, some people who want to discredit the resurrection, but have to say Paul, you know, is actually writing this. Because 1 Corinthians, you know, is undisputedly seen as being written by Paul, and it wasn't later written by anybody else. So scripture scholars recognize the authenticity of 1 Corinthians, but they want to explain away the resurrection. So they'll say this was a mass hallucination. Five hundred people saw the exact same thing. By the way, in mass hallucinations, people don't see the same things. They see different things.

1:00:00 Yes, there is such a thing as mass hallucinations, but not seeing the same thing. Okay? So that, five hundred people. Jesus didn't just appear, you know, to Mary Magdalene and to the apostles, and then boom, he goes up into heaven. He appears to five hundred. What happened in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal? Mary appeared to how many people? Three. Yes and no. She appeared to three, but then she said, I'm going to come on a certain day. I want for you to gather a bunch of people. How many people saw Mary? And Joseph? And Jesus? Because after Mary appeared, Joseph appeared holding Jesus. How many? It was thousands. How many thousand witnessed this event? Secular media.

1:00:47 News channels from around the world. Secular atheists converted to Christianity. Seventy thousand people saw Mary, Jesus, and Joseph at Fatima in 1917. Seventy thousand! You guys didn't even know this. You would think that if 70,000 people, including secular atheists who convert to Christianity, news channels and all these news reporters from all over, Why are we talking about this? Why isn't this common knowledge? Or why isn't it common knowledge that five hundred people saw Jesus when he was risen from the dead? It is odd how Satan makes us forget things. It is really odd how we just so quickly forget the supernatural. And so, we're no better than the Israelites who easily forgot what happened in the Exodus. The Israelites saw, you know, all the great signs, the ten plagues.

1:01:41 They get out in the desert and they start sinning and complaining. As if it had never happened. And are we any better? No. We forget these things so easily. Okay, let's go back here. Most of whom are still living. So we can say, you know, talk to some of these people. They're still living. Though some have fallen asleep. After that, he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally. Paul is a... I'm not going to say he has false humility. I'm going to say he probably had authentic humility. For I am the least of the apostles. Not fit to be called an apostle. Because I persecuted the church of God. By the way, so there's a certain denomination called the church of God. And they get it from this passage.

1:02:28 See? We're called the... It says scripture is called... We're called the church of God. So let's call ourselves that. Okay. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And this grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them. Not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. So Paul says... He gives himself credit. He says, look guys, I have toiled harder. But ultimately, who is the credit given to? Hmm? God. Yeah. It's saying, nations of Loyola. God, to God be all the greater glory. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us. But unto you be the glory. Because ultimately, how did Paul get this ability to preach the gospel and to become holy? Not from himself.

1:03:19 Not from practicing works of the law, but from the righteousness that comes from God. The Holy Spirit. Grace. And so this is a huge part of Paul's theology of grace. It comes from personal experience. Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed. But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? Now, why would there be some people in Corinth saying that there's no resurrection of the dead? Why Corinth? Was Corinth a Jewish city? No. It was a Greek city. Corinth. And the Greeks, remember, didn't believe in a resurrection of the dead. The body is just weighing us down.

1:04:08 It's just, it's to be done away with. And our true humanity is found in our soul, which escapes the body. You know, this is Gnosticism. This is where the Gnostics come from. And, but Paul says, okay, some of you people have been saying there's no resurrection from the dead. Well, let me tell you. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty to is our preaching. Empty to your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, I mean, this is pretty simple. You know, if one plus one equals two, two plus one equals three. Come on, guys. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain, and you are still in your sins.

1:04:56 If Christ has not been, but what if Christ died to death, but he was never raised from the dead? Are we still in our sins? Yeah. Keep your finger right there, okay? Don't leave it. And turn back to the epistle before this one, which is Romans, and turn to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4, verse 25. He's talking about Jesus. This is Paul again. And he says, Jesus, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification. No resurrection, no justification.

1:05:45 No resurrection, no forgiveness of sins. No resurrection, no restoration of Israel. You see, the resurrection is part of the Paschal mystery. It's part of our redemption. Resurrection is incredibly important. Okay, let's go back here. Let's go back to verse 18, 1 Corinthians 15. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all. But now, Christ has been raised from the dead. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, The resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. Adam and the new Adam.

1:06:36 Verse 22. For just as in Adam all die, So too in Christ all shall be brought to life. But each one in proper order. Christ the first fruits, Then it is coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end. Then comes the end. When he hands over the kingdom to his God and father. When he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. So, according to the Jews, who are their enemies that the Messiah was going to come vanquish? The Romans. Yeah, the Gentile powers. According to Paul, who is the Messiah really coming to destroy and to vanquish? Sin.

1:07:25 Death. And so now that Jesus is reigning, He's reigning and he's not going, Bad Romans. Strike dead. Raise up the Jews. Alright. No. Jesus, rather, is saying, Don't sin. Become holy. Rise from the dead. And this is the true enemy. The true enemy. And St. Paul talks about this battle that's going on in Ephesians chapter 6. Verse 23. Verse 26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he subjected everything under his feet. But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the one who subjected everything to him. When everything is subjected to him, then the son himself will also be subjected to the one who...

1:08:24 See, again, he's lost me. He's way too more intellectual than I am. I'm like, what? It's like God may be all in all. Okay. I want for you guys, let's turn to verse 35. Oh, by the way, turn to verse 34. I love this verse. Okay, guys. Verse 34. Become sober as you ought and stop sinning. For you have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. For some of you have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. One time, I was going to mass at the student center at Texas A&M. And Father David Condorla, who was the pastor there and is now the pastor again. He was the vocations director for the diocese a little while. Father David is a great homilist. I didn't really appreciate him when I first went to A&M.

1:09:12 I was like, man, I don't get him. And so I just kind of like would doze off. And now I get him. And I love it. And it's just like I can't. Every time I go there, I'm like, I hope Father David's preaching. But Father David Condorla, he was reading this verse. And he gets up to the ambo. And he goes, well, it looks to me like Scripture says you should stop sinning. And that you shouldn't sin. So, no. And then he just hillies and he gets back to his saying mass. The best homily I've ever heard.

1:10:00 Straight to the point. Straight to the point. Okay. Verse 35. But someone may say, an interlocutor, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back? I mean, you're saying that they're going to come back. Well, I mean, some people have been burnt up. Some people, you know, their bodies, you can't find them. Some people, how are the dead going to come back? That doesn't, what kind of a body? You fool! Whoa, Paul, come on, settle down. It was an honest question. What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. Okay. He's using the analogy of a seed. You know, a plant can't bear forth new light until it somehow dies. And it goes in the ground and bears new light. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.

1:10:53 So, the body we're going to get is not the same as the body that we have now, but they're connected. Because just as a seed of wheat becomes the wheat stalk, well, so our body is going to become this body. They're connected somehow, but they're different. But God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another kind of flesh for birds, and another for fish. They're both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the brightness of the heavenly is one kind, and that of the earthly another. For star differs from star in brightness.

1:11:44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible, it is raised incorruptible. It is sown dishonorable, it is raised glorious. It is sown weak, it is raised powerful. So, right now we're corruptible, dishonorable, weak. But we're going to become incorruptible, glorious, powerful. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. Well, some people have looked at this verse 44 of 1 Corinthians 15, and they go, okay, he's talking about a natural body and a spiritual body. Therefore, we're a body, we're physical, a physical body, but now he's talking about a spiritual body. It's not really physical, because it talks about a natural one than a spiritual one. Well, not quite.

1:12:34 Let's go back to the, let's get beyond our English translation, And let's look at the Greek word that Paul uses here. When he says natural body, he's using the phrase soma, which means body, S-O-M-A is the transliteration. Psychicon. P-S-Y-C-H-I-K-O-N is the transliteration. Soma, psychicon. What does psyche mean? Yeah, like your mind. Or, for Paul, it's your natural, being on the natural level. Your psyche. And so, is this first body, that psyche, is that not a real body? I mean, he says it's a psychicon. Therefore, it can't be a physical. Of course, we have physical bodies.

1:13:21 I mean, it's a body that's physical, here. But he uses the word psychicon. So, obviously, Paul, if we're going to say that the second body, which is spiritual, is just spiritual. It's not physical. Well, then we have to say the first body isn't physical. Because he calls it a soma psychicon. This is just a language. He's talking about different types of physicality. He's talking about two real, physical bodies. One is filled with the psyche, which is our psyche. This is what, according to the Greeks, runs us, animates us, is our natural psyche. But the body we're going to get is going to be a spiritual one. And the word he uses is soma pneumaticon. Pneuma.

1:14:07 P-N-E-U-M-A-T-I. K-O-N. What does pneuma mean? It means wind, yes. It also means spirit. So, the theology of the Holy Spirit. If you want to take a class on the Holy Spirit in college, it won't be called the theology of the Holy Spirit. It will be called pneumatology. So, what he's saying is that this new body is going to be governed, not by the psyche, but it's going to be governed by the spirit. It's going to be filled with the spirit. What spirit? The divine spirit. The divine life of God. It's going to be transformed by God. And so, you won't be able to sin.

1:14:56 You'll be powerful, incorruptible, glorious. So, this is kind of getting behind the English to the Greek to kind of see what Paul meant. He says in verse 45, So, too, it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam, a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first, rather the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from earth, earthly. The second man from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly. And as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

1:15:47 So, just as we have this natural body from Adam, so we're going to get a supernatural body, a resurrected body, a real body, but transformed and glorious from Jesus Christ. Yay! All right, let's close in prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. My God, my God, why have you forsaken us to such a horrendous state of being where we experience death and suffering and illness and disappointment and plague and disaster and all these things? Lord, like Jesus, we trust in you.

1:16:35 We know that you can bring more good out of suffering than was present before. So, we place our trust in you as Jesus did upon the cross. We carry our crosses in union with him this Lent. And we pray that we would become more like him, to grow in his image, to become holy. So that we may suffer with him, so as to be glorified with him, to die with him, so as to rise with him. We praise you, Lord. We love you. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you.