A fuller title for this post would have included the words “and not Mother Theresa,” though this not about her life and achievements. A week or so ago it was announced by the Roman Catholic Church the Mother Theresa was to be made a saint. The grounds for this being that according to their theology after a second miracle has been deemed to have occurred as a result somebody praying to Mother Theresa. Praying to the Saints is something that tends to bring a reaction amongst Protestants along the lines of “we’re having none of that around here!” If you resist the temptation of a knee-jerk reaction and step back and analyse the logic behind it then you might be surprised to find that many outside Roman Catholicism use the similar logic in practice. How many of us think it would be a good thing if somebody else prayed on our behalf? If you answer yes, then you are halfway to accepting the idea of praying to the Saints. The problem is that prayer is not just a petition to God, a wish list, but a conversation between you and God. Just because other people are more eloquent than you does not mean that God would prefer to deal with them rather than you. If Christianity is about building a relationship with God, initially through the cross and the shed blood of Jesus, then God want to talk to us directly and not through an intermediary other than Jesus himself. After all we do pray in Jesus’ name. The problem arises when what we are praying for requires a major intervention on God’s behalf, such as healing from a serious illness, or an important job interview, then we feel the need, not only to share prayer needs, but to seek someone out who will act as our representative before God. This might be your minister/vicar/pastor or it might be some other ministry that one has heard about through the Christian media such as Joyce Meyer Ministries to name but one of many. Having others to pray with you is one thing, but using others to pray instead of you is an abdication of responsibility. That is the danger. The basic fear behind this is that our own prayers are not good enough and we need someone more spiritually mature than us before God will agree with want we want. But if God loves us so much as to send His Son to die in our place then He also loves to talk with no matter how inarticulate we are. He wants to talk with us in a meaningful conversation so there should be no need for us to be afraid, providing we are being genuine. I write this post as much as for myself as for others, because I have to admit that prayer is not one of my strong points and I know that God wants to hear more from me as well.
David Rose, 2015.
This cartoon appeared in The Herald [formerly Glasgow Herald] of 14th December 2015 and gives a modern take on the Bible story. Much debate has taken place over the centuries as to who the Magi, or wise men, actually were. Whether they were pagan priests, magicians, or astrologers on the one hand or Jewish exiles left over from the Babylonian captivity. In favour of the pagan view is the fact that they were unaware of the prophecy of Micah which stated that the birthplace of the Messiah was to be Bethlehem. On the other hand many of the prophecies about the coming Messiah had been given to Jewish exiles like Daniel and Ezekiel. In particular the prophecy of Daniel chapter 9 of the seventy weeks or sevens. This prophecy correctly predicted the date of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem of Jesus according to Sir Robert Anderson in his book “The Coming Prince,” the suggestion is that there were a group of exiles who had also worked this out and then calculated that any Messiah would have to have been born some 33 1/2 years before. The logic behind this being that a Jewish rabbi could only begin his ministry at 30 and therefore expect the Messiah to be born at least before that. The account of the Magi appears in Matthew’s Gospel at the beginning of chapter 2 and I wondered was there a significance in this. I vaguely remembered that Matthew had ministered as an apostle in the areas where magi might have come from. However, when I checked up it appeared most likely that Matthew died in Egypt and that any references to him being were probably a reference to Matthias (Judas’ replacement in Acts 1) being confused with Matthew. (Isn’t it irritating when facts get in the way of a good theory.) A question arises if you believe the Jewish origin of the Magi as to why if they believed in the seventy sevens then why is there no biblical reference to them returning (or their successors) and witnessing the triumphal entry. Though this time if they would no doubt be more discreet. Coincidentally Acts chapter 2 lists as first amongst the foreign witnesses to Pentecost, as being “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia” the very areas were most scholars expect the Magi to have come from. Presumably they were listed in that order to reflect the numbers from those countries who became Christians. Parthia was not part of the Roman Empire, and the fact that the Magi had an audience the Herod suggests that they may have had the official blessing from a head of state. A letter of introduction from the King of Parthia would certainly have caused Herod to be disturbed along with the rest of Jerusalem. How did Matthew know that they had been advised to change their route home. It might have been a logical deduction, of course, they could have had their vision while still in Bethlehem and told Mary and Joseph, but then there would have warned them to leave as well instead of them having a vision for themselves. So there must be the intriguing possibility that there was contact between the Magi, or their successors, and the early church. Though it would have been unwise for the individuals who came at Jesus’ birth to ever return to Jerusalem itself it would be quite easy for others to visit the Holy Land, ostensibly as individuals.
cairngormmusings 
Unstoppable?
In the past week the news programmes and channels have concentrated on the event in Paris and their developments. Other stories have come and gone without much attention. One such was the death of Jonah Lomu at the age of only 40 as a result of kidney problems. When he appeared at the 1995 Rugby World Cup as a member of the New Zealand rugby team he filled his opponents with dread whenever he got the ball and was able to run at pace. He seemed unstoppable, often brushing aside would be tacklers as if they were not there. Up to this point Rugby Union had been an officially amateur sport but during this World Cup changes were made to allow the emergence of the modern professional game. So when 6 foot 5 inch Jonah Lomu walked on the pitch he was much taller than the average player of his day and their fitness levels were much lower in those days. In one of the pool stages of the tournament they played Scotland and as a Scotland supporter I began to dread every time Jonah got the ball. He seemed to score every time he got the ball. Scotland were not playing badly but they were made to look poor. At one stage the shortest player on the pitch, Brian Redpath, the Scotland scrum-half found himself in the way of one of Jonah’s runs. He bravely tackled him straight and surprisingly Jonah crumpled to the ground. But Brian was knocked out in the process, though he recovered. To his opponents he inspired as much terror as any ISIS gunman, yet now he is gone. Not that Jonah was a violent man and am I not inferring that. Though otherwise unconnected the New Zealand team play in all black the same colour as the Islamic State flag. There is a verse in Psalm 37 “I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him he could not be found.” It may be that Jonah’s passing is a sign that which was once unstoppable will be no more. In the last couple of years ISIS has prospered like a green tree, at least until Russian forces have assisted the Syrians directly. They are well-financed and armed but the very fact that their forces are spread over such a large area there must be places where they are weak. Let us pray that the weaknesses of ISIS be exposed and exploited, that their revenue streams be cut and that their consciences may no longer suppressed by their ideology. It may be that the attacks in Paris were a diversion from losses incurred by recent air attacks. Things are not always as they seem.
David Rose, 2015.